


The Hidden Truth

by mry6633



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Professor Bellatrix, Sane Bellatrix, Slow Burn, Some RON Weasley bashing, please comment any feedback you have for me, take it easy on me this is my first fic, uhm i don’t know what else to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:01:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 76,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25511041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mry6633/pseuds/mry6633
Summary: What if Barty Crouch Jr. wasn’t disguised as Moody? What if it was a different death eater?So I suck at summaries please give it a try. This is my first fic so any reviews would be great!
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Comments: 240
Kudos: 515





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to say thank you for giving this fic a chance!

Waves crashed on jagged rocks below. Gusts of wind blew cold salty air into the cells. Screams of sorrow, pain, and fear could be heard throughout the formidable prison. In every cell a prisoner was chained up. In one such cell a prisoner with dark wild hair sat peacefully unlike the other prisoners. She wasn’t screaming or clawing at her restraints or even shivering from the cold, on the contrary she sat in a state of peace and calm.

The prisoner thought to herself ‘I’m almost free just a little longer.’

“BANG”

A loud sound echoed through the prison signaling that it was time for the prisoner to make her escape. Aurors began yelling and moving towards the noise.

———————

A lone raven flew out of the prison escaping to freedom.

———————

The raven flew into a dark house landing in-front of the large fireplace and throne-like chair. Shifting back into her original form the dark haired prisoner kneeled in-front of the throne.

“My lord,”said the prisoner while kneeling.

“Bella,” the child-like form hissed,” there is no need for my most faithful to kneel before me.” Bellatrix quickly stood up and bowed her head towards the shriveled form of her master.

“Wormtail bring me the woman,” hissed Voldemort. Wormtail dragged a brunette woman screaming in-front of the dark lord.

Voldemort handed Bellatrix a 12 and 3/4 walnut and dragon heartstring wand. Bellatrix took the wand with a skeleton-like hand.

“Kill her.”

Without hesitation Bellatrix screamed, “AVADA KEDAVRA!” Bellatrix began to cackle seeing the limp body on the ground.

“Bella I need you to assume the form of Thalia Mulligan acting as the defense against the dark arts professor at Hogwarts. Gain Harry Potter’s trust and help him throughout the year. I will tell you more when the time comes” instructed Voldemort, handing Bellatrix a 11 and 1/4 blackthorne dragon heartstring wand the wand that belonged to the dead woman in front of them.

“Of course my lord,” said Bellatrix faithfully.

—————————

The Feast

The older years walked into the Great Hall excitedly talking amongst each other. The train ride was uneventful except for the fact that Malfoy was being an annoying prat as usual. Hermione Granger quickly noticed that the chair in which the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor normally sits was empty.

“Harry, Ron, who do you think this year’s Defense Against the Dark professor will be?” asked Hermione.

Ron replied,” Blimey Hermione it’s our first day back and you’re already thinking about classes!”

Harry replied,” I don’t know but I hope it’s not anyone like Lockhart!”

Hermione made a noise of acknowledgement and began thinking of who Dumbledore might have chosen to teach this year. The sorting began and the trio clapped for every new and after the sorting Dumbledore told everyone to “Tuck in!”

Half way through the meal a loud bang echoed throughout the hall. Someone had blown open the doors to the Great Hall. Talking and laughing quickly ceased, everyone turned around to look at who entered the Great Hall.

A tall and imposing figure stride up to Dumbledore. The figure had straight brown hair at about shoulder length. She stood at about 5’9”.(175 cm). The woman was wearing black, slightly scandalous, robes that gave quite the view of her cleavage. Her eyes were a light brown comparable to honey. Hermione couldn’t help but stare at the brunette beauty in front of her. The woman caught Hermione staring at her and simply winked at her. Hermione looked away quickly, her face turning red, embarrassed by being caught. If Harry or Ron saw her flushed face they certainly didn’t say anything.

“Thalia thank you for joining us tonight!” Dumbledore remarked happily offering his hand for a hand shake.

“Of course Dumbledore,” Thalia replied.

Dumbledore addressed the school now, ”Students let me introduce you to the new defense against the dark arts professor curse breaker and ex auror Thalia Mulligan!”

Professor Mulligan politely waved at the crowd and flashed a small smile.

Ron exclaimed to Harry looking lovestruck, “Bloody hell that's a real woman!”

Harry awkwardly replied to Ron, “ Yeah mate...”

Hermione glared at Ron in shock and anger. “Ronald Weasley stop leering at a professor!” she exclaimed angrily.

“One last announcement for the night!” excitedly announced Dumbledore,” Hogwarts will be hosting the tri wizard championship and two schools Durmstrang and Beauxbatons!”

————————

In the Girls Dormitory

Hermione lay awake that night wondering what terrible thing would befall Harry this year. Little did she know but it would be worse than anything she could think of.

———————

In the Professors Quarters

Bellatrix took off the glamour disguising herself as Professor Mulligan. Bella looked at herself in the mirror, her dark brown almost black eyes shining with determination, and muttered,”I won’t let you down my Lord.”

———————

The First DADA lesson

Hermione walked to the classroom with Ron and Harry. As they stood waiting in front of the door Ronald began talking once again about how stunning their professor was. Hermione glared at Ron yet again, but Ron took no notice.

The door swung open quietly and Ron took no notice but both his friends had as well as the rest of the class. Everyone stood silent in the hallway. Professor Mulligan stood in the doorway, wearing similar robes from the feast but these robes weren’t as scandalous. She stood there listening to Ron until she realized he wouldn’t be taking notice of her anytime soon.

“....and her breasts look so-“

“Mr. Weasley! I will not tolerate this kind of talk! Detention with Professor McGonagall on Friday!” said Professor Mulligan sternly.

Ron had turned bright red and muttered an apology and bolted into the classroom quickly taking a seat. The rest of the class except Harry and Hermione laughed at Ron while walking into the classroom. Everyone sat in their seats as Professor Mulligan strode up to the front of the room.

“As you found out yesterday I am a curse breaker and an ex auror. On the contrary to popular belief I was not fired I quit after my services were needed in the curse breaker field. Now in this class I will not tolerate any foolishness or and unacceptable behavior. In this class we will be learning about dark spells and how to counter them. Some of these spells you will know while others you will never have heard of. I have gotten permission to share with you later in the year unforgivable curses used by the most deadliest through a pensive. Any questions so far?”

Hermione’s hand shot up into the air.

“Yes Ms. Granger.”

“Professor, what do you mean by the most deadliest?”

“I will be showing you memories given to the ministry by famous and deadly death eaters. Any other questions?” Mulligan paused looking around the classroom. “No more questions? Alright let’s move on.” Mulligan continued explaining her expectations for the year and the rest of the subjects she will be covering.

“That’s all for today you are welcome to talk amongst each other till the class ends.”

Hermione whispered to Harry,”What do you think of Professor Mulligan?”

“I think she’s the best professor we’ve had!” Harry whispered excitedly.

Hermione talked with Harry about the class till it was time to leave. As she walked out the door she couldn’t help thinking that something about Professor Mulligan made her uneasy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the Kudos and Reviews! It really helps motivate me to keep writing this story! Also I added some stuff to chapter 1 if you want to check that out before reading this chapter. Without further ado the next chapter!

The Great Hall was crowded. Everyone rushed to get a good breakfast before their first class. Hermione sat down on the bench without glancing up from her book, grabbed a piece of toast and began eating. While Hermione was absorbed in her book, Harry and Ron sat down quickly loading their plates with food. Without looking up from her book Hermione greeted the boys,”Good morning!”  
Harry replied in the same manner and Ron tried to talk around a huge mouthful of sausage. 

“Honestly Ronald one would think that you haven’t learned any manners from when you were five!” Hermione exclaimed at Ron in disgust, carefully closing her book.  
Ron swallowed the sausage in his mouth,”Sorry ‘Mione.” 

At this moment Hermione felt eyes on the back of her head. She turned her head around only to catch Professor Mulligan staring at her. Mulligan simply winked like she did when she caught Hermione staring at her. Hermione blushed a light pink. Neither boy noticed the exchange between professor and student and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at not having to explain herself to the boys. The rest of the meal passed without any more interesting events. When it was time to leave for class Harry, Ron and Hermione headed off to go to Potions. 

‘The dungeons were never a nice place to be; they were dark and cold’ Hermione thought to herself on her way to potions. The walk had shifted into a silent death march of sorts for no Gryffindor enjoyed Potions because of a certain potions master. The door to the classroom was open and the trio picked up their pace not wanting to be late to give Snape an excuse to take off points. 

A deep smooth voice greeted them as they walked in,”Glad to see the golden trio can join us today.” Harry simply rolled his eyes at Snape as the other two walked in looking at the ground embarrassed. Malfoy and his bodyguards in the back of the room began to snicker at the trio’s expense. Snape continued giving instructions to the class on what potion they will be making today. “Today you will be making a wit-sharpening potion. You will be trying out this potion on yourself today. Some of you may benefit from this assignment. Begin immediately.” 

Hermione lept into action grabbing the ingredients from her bag. ‘Scarab beetles, ginger roots, armadillo bile, and newt spleens. Scarab beetles, ginger roots, armadillo bile, and newt spleens. Scarab beetles, ginger roots, armadillo bile, and newt spleens.’ Hermione repeated as a mantra in her head. 

When she pulled out all her ingredients she began to cut her ginger roots after cutting the roots she put them in the cauldron and mixed till it turned lime green. After the potion turned lime green she dumped in the armadillo bile and mixed till the potion turned blue. She then ground up the beetles in a pestle and sprinkled in the beetles till the potion turned red. Adding more armadillo bile and mixing till the potion turned yellow. She mixed in more ginger roots until the potion turned lime green once again. Finally she mixed in armadillo bile counter-clockwise until the potion turned purple. 

Looking around the classroom Hermione noticed that she was the first to finish as usual. Neville was working next to her and she noticed that he needed help so she began whispering instructions to him. Neville flashed her a grateful smile immediately following her instructions. Little did the two know but Snape had been watching them the whole time. 

“Ms.Granger did I say you could help each other?”

“No Sir, but you never said we couldn’t,” quipped Hermione. Hermione couldn’t believe she said that, but she was just so fed up with Snape. Her first year self would be so ashamed and quite possibly mortified. 

“Ten points from Gryffindor and detention Ms.Granger.”

Neville cried out to Snape so outraged that it outweighed his fear for the man,”I should have detention I was the one that accepted the help.”

“Mr.Longbottom you didn’t ask for help did you? Since Ms.Granger was offering her help she will be serving detention tonight with Professor Mulligan.”

No one argued with Snape again that period. At the end of the class they sampled their potions, Hermione's perfect as always. Many students potions made them dumber like Ron and Neville. Only one other student made a perfect potion and that was only because Malfoy got help from Snape.  
——————

Outside of the Castle the trio walked to the herbology class but before getting to the class they were stopped by Malfoy.

“Look, the mudblood teacher’s pet has detention!” At this statement Goyle and Crabbe started laughing and jeering at her. Harry began to clench his fists and Ron began to turn red out of anger. Hermione’s eyes started to fill with tears at the hurtful statement. 

“Is the mudblood going to cry?” Malfoy still continued to jeer while his two bodyguards went silent. Unnoticed by him but by everyone else Professor Mulligan had snuck up behind him. Mulligan cast a wordless curse at Malfoy to make him gain a rat tail and morph his face into rat-like features. Malfoy let out a squeak of shock and outrage. 

“Mr. Malfoy, we do not use derogatory language here. Twenty-Five points from Slytherin and as much as it pains me to punish my own house you are in the wrong Mr. Malfoy. You two take him to the hospital wing Pomfrey will fix him right up.”

The three Slytherins scurried off to the hospital wing after they left Mulligan dismissed Harry and Ron to go to class while she talked to Hermione. 

“Ms. Granger, can you explain to me what happened to cause them to attack you like this,” calmly asked Mulligan. Hermione explained what had happened in Potions earlier today and the situation leading up to the point at which Mulligan had showed up. 

“Ms. Granger I'm terribly sorry that this happened to you and I hope this doesn’t happen to you again but I'm sorry to say that it will most likely happen again because of all the closed minded people in this world,”Professor Mulligan said, eyes shining with sympathy. 

“Thank you Professor but it wasn't your fault,” replied Hermione.  
Mulligan muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘but it is’. Hermione caught what she muttered and started to wonder to herself what the Professor meant.

Before Hermione could get too sucked in to figuring the statement out, Mulligan said to Hermione in a much louder voice,”I’ll see you tonight for detention.” Mulligan briskly strode off to her classroom wondering to herself ‘why did I say that it was my fault I'm loyal to the dark lord I would never betray him.’  
——————-  
Later that night at dinner Harry and Ron tried to reassure Hermione that detention wouldn’t be that bad but the boys didn’t have the best experiences from detention. Ron simply said,”The view will be nice to look at.” At this statement both Harry and Hermione shot him a look and he quickly shut his mouth. Hermione pushed around the food on her plate not really hungry as she was too stressed over her detention. 

After she finished eating she looked up to see Mulligan walking over to her.  
“Granger, let's go we have a lot to do tonight,” as she finished saying this Mulligan quickly strode out of the hall. Hermione got up out of her seat and had to jog to catch up to Mulligan. Mulligan led them to an unused area of the castle. “We are here because you are going to help me with the boggart infestation in this room. There should be about four to five boggarts in this room. You know the spell to defeat a boggart right?”

“Yes Professor.”

“Once you hit the boggart with this spell put it in a box that will immediately lock shut. Let’s get started.”

The pair walked into the room only for Hermione to be almost immediately attacked by a boggart McGonagall holding a failing grade telling Hermione how disappointed she was in her.  
“RIDDIKULUS!” Hermione screamed at the boggart blasting it backwards into a box.  
“Very good Ms. Granger!” praised Professor Mulligan.  
At this moment a boggart went after Mulligan taking the form of Voldemort. Boggart Voldemort started taunting her and saying how she needed to be punished. Mulligan calmly uttered the incantation and got rid of the boggart. Hermione watched the whole thing curiously wondering why her professor would fear Voldemort taunting her and telling her that she wasn’t good enough. 

Mulligan went about her business quickly locking up another boggart before turning to Hermione and saying,”Are you going to help or not?” Hermione quickly snapped out of her train of thoughts and worked on finding the other two boggarts. Once all the boggarts were locked away Mulligan vanished the boxes explaining that she moved them into her classroom. Mulligan gestured for Hermione to sit down next to her. 

“Now I'm sure you are wondering why my boggart is you know who and why he’s saying that I’m not good enough. Well during the last war with you know who he had captured my sister and myself. I tried everything I could but I didn’t get to my sister in time and he killed her,” Mulligan answered sadly. Hermione stared at her in shock and stayed quiet. Mulligan had spaced out and was staring at the wall in front of them. Hermione couldn’t help but admire how attractive her professor was before she could look away from her ogling, she saw a faint shimmer over her professor’s face, confused she tried to look closer, but Mulligan noticed her staring and instead of sending her a flirtatious wink. She quickly stood up and said,”You are free to go, your detention has been completed.” After telling Hermione that statement Mulligan swiftly strode out of the room. 

Hermione still felt that something was off and made a mental note to research Thalia Mulligan in the library tomorrow before walking tiredly to the girls dormitory to finish her homework and get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Hermione catching on? ;) I will try to post at least once a week. If I don’t post once a week feel free to yell at me in the comments


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the support! I couldn't help myself so here's the next chapter! You may have noticed that I bumped up the rating that's because this chapter gets a bit grusome.

The Great Hall is always loud in the mornings today was no exception to that rule. Harry and Ron were excitedly talking about what Defense Against The Dark Arts would entail today while stuffing their faces with food. Hermione couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the Defense Against The Dark Arts lesson for the day while only eating a scone and a couple of bites of toast.

“Maybe one of the memories will have Voldemort in it!” exclaimed Harry.

Hermione butted into the conversation now retorting, “Don’t be daft Harry! How would they get a memory from you know who?”

The two boys fell silent after Hermione’s remark, but Ginny continued the conversation saying, “ You guys are so lucky my year is too young to learn about unforgivables so we are doing boggarts today.” Once Ginny brought up boggarts the two Weasleys and Harry began to talk about how embarrassing some of their classmates’ boggarts had been.

Hermione took this chance to look up at the Professors’ table and noticed that Professor Mulligan and Professor Snape weren't sitting at the table. Hermione brushed off any suspicions and worries she had since she had more pressing matters such as getting to the library. She began to think about her schedule and when she could go to the library today.

The only classes Hermione had today were Transfiguration and Defense Against The Dark Arts. Hermione noted that she had a free period after Transfiguration and decided to go to the library then.  
\------------------------  
Transfiguration passed without a hitch. Today the class will be learning how to change a rat into a glass goblet. The students were given no guidelines on what to make the goblet look like. The only instructions they were given were how to move your wand to achieve this outcome and the  
incantation.

Professor McGonagall told the class,“In order to receive a passing grade there must be no fur and especially no rat tails on your goblets! You may take creative liberty with making your goblets unique. Now can anyone tell me what the incantation is for this spell?” Hermione’s hand instantly shot up into the air.

“Ms. Granger.”

“The incantation to change a rat into a glass goblet is Vera Verto Professor.”

“That is correct Ms. Granger ten points to Gryffindor! Now can anyone tell me the wand movement for this spell?” Hermione hesitated before raising her hand wanting to give all the other students a chance to answer.

“Go ahead Ms. Granger,”said Professor McGonagall after seeing Hermione’s hesitation.

“The wand movement for this spell would be to tap the rat three times and point your wand at the rat and say the incantation.”

“Very good Ms. Granger! Another ten points to Gryffindor!”

At this exclamation Malfoy scoffed in the back of the class and said to Parkinson,“I bet she’s shagging the old hag to help her house earn more points.”

Pansy as well as the rest of the Slytherins began laughing at the jeer while Hermione began to turn red out of embarrassment and anger. McGonagall heard the jeer and simply said to Malfoy,“ Twenty points from Slytherin for that inappropriate comment and lack of respect as well as detention with myself and Mr. Weasley tonight.”

Malfoy made an ugly face of rage and yelled at Professor McGonagall,“MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!”

“I’ll be waiting for his owl,”Professor McGonagall calmly retorted, raising an eyebrow. Causing the Gryffindors to erupt in laughter and Malfoy’s face to become somehow angrier than earlier.

“Let's get back on topic students. You have till the end of the period to turn your rat into a glass goblet.”  
———————

During Hermione’s free period she headed over to the library after telling the boys were she was going. She started looking for any and all material on Thalia Mulligan. After searching the whole library to only find two books on her Hermione stopped searching and sat down to read the books. Thinking to herself ‘Maybe I'll figure out a little bit more about Professor Mulligan.’

When she finished reading the books she found that didn’t know any more than she already knew about the mysterious Professor Mulligan. The book mentioned all the things she did as an auror and curse breaker, but nothing else. She asked Madam Pince about any more books, but all the other books on Mulligan had been checked out and Madam Pince wouldn’t tell her who checked them out. Hermione thought to herself before heading off to meet up Harry and Ron before Defense Against the Dark Arts ,’I have a mystery to solve and a lot more research to do.’  
—————-

Today Professor Mulligan would be showing the class unforgivables through memories. Hermione was skeptical with this lesson for a variety of reasons, the number one reason being it would show the Slytherins how to cast an unforgivable. Hermione, Harry, and Ron got out of their seats to walk to the classroom walking out into the river of students. When they arrived at the classroom the door was already open and they heard Mulligan yell from inside the classroom “Come in and do hurry up we have a lot to get through today!”.

The trio rushed inside and found that there were no desks in the class. In the center of the classroom a large pensive stood already swirling darkly with memories. The three of them glanced between each other looking worried about what the lesson today would entail. Neville Longbottom nervously walked into the room looking pale and scared. Following him not far behind were the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins. “Good we are all here now!”excitedly said Mulligan. “Today’s lesson as you know is quite intense so, you may back out on viewing any of the memories by simply standing out of the circle,” Mulligan stated, gesturing at a large white circle around the pensive. “Before we begin I want to say that we will be focusing on each curse one at a time. Now, to begin with, can anyone tell me a unforgivable curse?” No one in the class raised their hand. As they were too intimidated by the lesson for the class.

“Mr. Weasley you can answer the question seeing how you were about to put your gum on the underside of the desk,” growled Mulligan while her back was turned to Ron. Ron turned bright red and stuttered,”uh...uhm...the imperius curse?”  
“Was that a question or statement, Weasley?”  
Ron stated more confidently,” The imperious curse.”  
“Very good Mr. Weasley. This curse would force the victim to do anything against their own will. This specific curse caused the ministry a lot of trouble after you know who was killed as many death eaters claimed to be under this curse to escape backlash and punishment. With this curse you can’t tell if a person was or is under this curse unless the person does something out of character.” The students flashed each other concerned looks, fearful about what this memory may contain.

“This memory is from a death eater named Mulciber who specialized in the imperious curse. He loves to make his victims do unspeakable things. The memory i’ll be showing you today is one of his tamer attacks.” Mulligan informed the class that once they entered the memory they would not be able to leave until she pulled them from the memory.  
“Students gather around the pensive. Stand in the circle of you wish to view the memory. I will warn you once this is not a pretty sight.” Hermione took a deep calming breath before taking her spot in the circle. The rest of her classmates stood in the circle with her many looking pale or uneasy.  
————————

The class felt a cold sensation and looking around saw shapes forming all around them. The students jumped hearing a deep male voice yell,”IMPERIO!” Hermione jerked her head quickly to the sound and saw a tall dark haired man pointing his wand at a smaller blonde man. Mulciber then commanded the smaller man to chop off his feet and hang himself. The class watched in horror as the blonde man grabbed a knife and chopped his feet off blood forming quickly in a puddle. The man stood up on the stumps of his legs and hobbled over to the noose, stuck his head through the loop and stepped off the stool he was standing on. Hermione looked away from the gruesome scene in front of her and her eyes drifted towards her professor who was staring intently at the scene in front of her, the corners of her mouth slightly quirked up in a smirk. The expression on Mulligan’s face sent a wave of fear through Hermione. The expression gave Hermione more motive to be even more suspicious of the professor.  
\---------------------

Once the man in the noose stopped flailing and struggling Mulligan pulled the class from the memory. Looking around Hermione could see that everyone looked horrified and a couple looked like they might throw up. Hermione was sure she looked like a wreck too. Mulligan let everyone recover for ten minutes offering everyone chocolate and water before diving into the next curse.

“Does anyone know another unforgivable curse?”  
Neville raised his hand hesitantly.  
“Yes, Mr. Longbottom.”

Neville answered quietly, “The cruciatus curse.”

“Yes the cruciatus curse. A horrible curse it is. It is also known as the torture curse. It is the worst pain one will ever feel. Once this curse is cast one can not break out of this curse with pure will. This curse can only be ended when the caster decides to end the curse,” Mulligan finished with a haunted look on her face.

At that statement and the look on Professor Mulligan’s face Hermione raised her hand, “Professor it almost sounds like you are speaking from experience. Has this curse been used on you?”

“To answer your question simply yes Ms. Granger I have been tortured under this curse.”

Hermione looked at her with a look mixed with disbelief and sympathy for the pain she must have gone through.

Mulligan quickly changed the subject eager to get away from that topic,“Now before I pull us into the memory this memory is from arguably the deadliest and most infamous death eater out there Bellatrix Black.” Neville hearing the name Mulligan said went so pale that those around him started asking him if he was okay.

“Before we look at this memory I will warn you that this is not a pretty sight. Mr. Longbottom I highly discourage you from joining us with this memory. However this is your choice so you make a choice about if you want to join us or not.”

Neville confidently stepped into the circle, his face and body displaying certainty, but his eyes betrayed him; they were wildly darting around the room and had a nervous shine to them.

“Is everyone in the circle confident that they want to view this memory?” Mulligan asked one last time. Everyone in the circle gave a sign of yes either nodding their heads or giving a thumbs up.

A cold feeling enveloped the class once again. Dark shapes began to form and it wasn’t long till they heard voices.  
“NO PLEASE NO! I’ll GIVE YOU ANYTHING JUST DON’T TOUCH MY SON!” a distinctly feminie voice screamed.

A dark and bone chilling cackle was heard down the hall getting louder as the person cackling moved towards the group. A woman hauntingly breath taking with her alabaster skin, tall frame, blood red lips, and a dark curly mane of hair. Hermione couldn’t help but admire how attractive the death eater was. After Hermione finished ogling the dark witch she noticed that the death eater had dragged two people in with her, a young boy that looked to be around the age of eight and his mother.

“I don’t want anything you have scum,”the death eater spat venomously.

“Please don’t hurt him,”the young mother begged on her knees in front of the witch.

“Give me one good reason.”

“I love him and I’ll take whatever you’re going to do to him.”

A few tense moments passed in silence until the dark haired witch threw her head back and cackled her chilling laugh.

“ _The ity bity mudblood loves him_ ,” she taunted in her baby voice quickly switching to her normal voice,“Then I most definitely can’t _**hurt**_ him.”

The woman on her knees had silent tears running down her face as she turned to her son,“I love you sweetheart. I’ll always love you baby.”

As she continued telling her son sweet nothings, Bellatrix had gotten bored and pulled out her wand to yell,“CRUCIO!”

The mother convulsed on the floor, her mouth open in a silent scream for minutes on end. After about fifteen minutes her son started to yell and scream,“NO MOMMY! STOP HURTING MY MOMMY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” With a blast of accidental magic a chair zoomed towards Bellatrix at an astonishing speed launching her through a wall.

The woman instantly yelled at her son,“RUN! GET AS FAR FROM HERE AS YOU CAN!” The boy looking frightened and terrified ran down the hall and out the open door.

A blood curdling scream was heard,“I’LL **KILL** THAT BRAT! WHERE IS HE!”

Hermione couldn’t watch any more and saw that most of her class was in the same state, Neville looking like he might pass out. Hermione glanced over at her professor and saw that her face was a mixture of regret and remorse. Hermione thought to herself, ‘Why would Professor Mulligan feel regretful for something Bellatrix Black did?’

Mulligan chose this moment to pull the class from the memory, not wanting to scare the class any more than they already were. Mulligan immediately once out of the memory saw how awful Neville looked and walked over to him.

“I’m so sorry Neville I shouldn’t have let you see that memory. Please come with me up to my office.”

Neville walked up the stairs with Mulligan helping to support Neville’s weight into her office. The door to the office shut and immediately the class began to talk in soft murmurs. No one made fun of Neville since most of them were having similar reactions to the memory. Hermione sat down on the floor simply digesting the memory and all the horrors it contained.

Mulligan strode down the stairs about five minutes after she walked up with Neville. She walked around the room offering sweets and water again.

About five minutes of the class sitting in silence Mulligan announced to the class,“We will cover the final of the three curses at a later time since these memories we viewed today were intense. You will have the rest of the period to talk amongst yourselves and do school work.”

After announcing this she strode out of the room. Everyone started to talk in hushed tones not wanting to raise their voices. Hermione thought to herself,’Now would be the perfect time to do a bit of digging in Mulligan’s office.’ Hermione climbed up the stairs disguising her idea to snoop as checking in on Neville.

“Hermione! What are you doing up here?”

“Hey Neville I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I’ve been better, but Professor Mulligan gave me this book to help distract me. I get the feeling that isn’t the only reason why you are up here though. Why are you really up here?”

“Well I really did want to check in on you Neville, but I did also want to look through Mulligan’s stuff. There is something about her that I don’t trust.”

“Okay, but try to be done looking around when she comes back up here.”

“I’ll try my best Neville.”

Hermione made her way over to the desk and began to look through the drawers. Looking through all the drawers the only suspicious thing was a book on dark curses, but that still made sense seeing how she was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. While looking through the last drawer she realized that it had a fake bottom like you see in spy movies. Pulling up the fake bottom after releasing the latch holding it shut she found a wand. It looked to be walnut and about 12 and 3/4 inches. Hermione cast a spell to reveal what type of wand core if could be (she found this spell after doing some late night reading the previous year) found that it was dragon heartstring. Quickly putting the wand back after hearing movement at the door she stood up and started to talk to Neville about the aquatic plants in his book. Not even five seconds after they started talking Mulligan opened the door and walked into the room thanking Hermione for keeping Neville company while she went to talk to Pomfrey and telling Hermione that she can go now.  
\-------------------------

Once she left the classroom Hermione breathed out a sigh of relief at getting away with snooping through Mulligan’s office. Walking to the Great Hall for dinner Hermione made a mental note to research who owns a 12 and 3/4 walnut dragon heartstring wand.  
\------------------------

After walking Neville to the hospital wing Thalia walked back to her classroom casting locking wards on both the main classroom door and her office door. Once safely inside of her office glamor charms were dropped revealing Bellatrix with a lost expression on her face. She sat down in one of the chairs thinking to herself,‘Why do I feel this way? I tortured many people for my Lord. Why do I feel guilty now?’ Abandoning her train of thoughts Bellatrix stood up and began looking through her office in case the Granger girl decided to look through her things.

Finally looking through her drawers she noticed something off with the drawer that housed her real wand. Taking a closer look she realised what was wrong with the fake bottom.

The latch hadn’t been fully flipped shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will Bellatrix do? I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! If you have any feed back for me or are confused about anything comment and I'll get back to you!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have to give credit to J.K. Rowling (even thought she's a TERF) seeing how I did use some passages from her book. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Edit: I will probably be slowing down on the updates since I've almost caught up to what I've writen in advance

Bellatrix paced around the office trying to figure out what she should do with the girl. Since the girl saw her wand she is now a threat to Bellatrix's cover.

_ ‘I could just get rid of her.’ _

_‘No that would be suspicious’_ she thought while ignoring her growing feelings for the Granger girl. In the end Bellatrix decided to do nothing because she didn’t want to blow her cover and there was no way the girl could figure out that the wand belonged to her. 'Since the girl is a mudblood there is no way she could outsmart a pureblood,' Bellatrix thought haughtly.

_ 'Right?' _

\-------------------------------------

After the intense lesson with two of the three unforgivables Mulligan decided to take it easy on her classes. Reviewing material everyone in the class should know like patronuses and a variety of defensive and offensive spells to be used during duels. Students were taught correct duel edicate and even saw Mulligan duel McGonagall with Mulligan beating McGonagall.

Hermione was still apprehensive of Mulligan and had picked up two books from the last time she went to Hogsmeade one being about famous and infamous wands and who they belonged to and another book about how to ward any notes she wrote so that she would be the only one to see what was written on the paper. The first book being almost two thousand pages long Hermione had only made it three hundred pages into the book and hadn’t found a wand that matched the walnut wand she saw in the drawer. Every night she would carefully read through the pages to make sure she wouldn't pass by the passage she was looking for.

\-------------------------------

One October night, after all the classes were completed, was filled with excitement; all the students were running around excited for what was to come later that night. The whole school gathered in front of the large wooden doors that led into the school. Murmurs of anticipation were heard throughout the large crowd.

“Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!” announced Dumbledore. Excited murmurs turned into yelling and loud shouts upon seeing the dark form hurtling closer to the school.

They saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all pure white, and each the size of an elephant. Once the carriage landed the door swung open and a large woman stepped out of the carriage and was immediately greeted by Dumbledore.

“My dear Madame Maxime,” he said. “Welcome to Hogwarts.”

“Dumbly-dorr,” said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. “I ’ope I find you well?”

“In excellent form, I thank you,” said Dumbledore.

“My pupils,” said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her. Gesturing to the group of two dozen or so students all wearing powder blue uniforms. 

“The lake!” yelled Lee, pointing down at it. “Look at the lake!”

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water — except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all.

Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks — and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake’s floor. . . .

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool . . . and then Hermione saw the rigging. . . .

“It’s a mast!” Harry gasped next to Hermione.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship merged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship’s portholes. All of them, Hermione noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle . . . but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, she saw that their bulk was due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

“Dumbledore!” he called heartily as he walked up the slope.

“How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?”

“Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore replied.

“Dear old Hogwarts,” Karkaroff said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow. “How good it is to be here, how good. . . . Viktor, come along, into the warmth . . . you don’t mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold. . . .”

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Hermione caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. She didn’t need to hear the hissed statement from Ron, to recognize that student.

“Harry, Hermione!- It’s Krum!”

Hermione whirled around and responded to Ron,“We know Ronald we don’t need to hear your fangirling.”

Ron looked at Hermione with a hurt look on his face at the same time Harry looked at Hermione confused as to why she snapped at Ron. Hermione truth be told had no idea why she snapped at Ron. It just popped out of her mouth like her filter just suddenly broke.

The students from all three schools filled into the Great Hall to eat before someone from the Ministry came to announce more details on the tournament. 

The dishes served tonight have a great hall or mixture of those from Russian and French countries. Ron wouldn’t touch the bouillabaisse for he thought it looked suspicious. Most of the Durmstrang students decided to sit with the Slytherins and the Beauxbatons students decided to sit with the Ravenclaws.

A pretty blonde French girl walked up to the Gryffindor table and asked Ron, “Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?”

When Ron looked up and saw the pretty French girl his face turned purple and attempted to speak to her but nothing came out of his mouth except a faint gurgling noise. Luckily Harry came to his rescue and responded for him handing the French girl the dish. 

“I’m telling you, that’s not a normal girl!” Ron said, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. “They don’t make them like that at Hogwarts!”

“They make them okay at Hogwarts,” said Harry absent mindedly, staring at Cho.

“The moment has come,” said Dumbledore smiling around at the sea of upturned faces,”The Triwizard Tournament is about to start I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring out the casket-

Hermione heard Harry mutter,“The what?”

“- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But, first let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartimus Crouch Head of Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr. Ludo Bagman Head of Department of Magical Games and Sports,” Dumbledore paused for students to cheer and clap.

Cheers and hollers were heard throughout the hall. Although the cheers for Mr. Bagman were much louder than those for Mr. Crouch.

“Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament,” Dumbledore continued,“ and they will be joining myself and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the Champion's efforts.”

Dumbledore then dramatically announced,“Mr. Filch bring out the casket!”

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students.

“Instructions for the tasks the Champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman,” said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chess carefully on the table before him, “and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks spaced throughout the school year and they will test the champions in many different ways, their magical prowess, their daring, their powers of deduction, and of course their ability to cope with danger.”

The last sentence Dumbledore uttered caused the Great Hall to go silent.

“As you know three Champions compete in the tournament,” Dumbledore went on calmly, “one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks as well as the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard cup. The Champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire.”

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be visible to everyone in the Hall. “Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet,” said Dumbledore. “Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

“To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation,” said Dumbledore, “I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

“Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all.”

\--------------------------

The Great Hall The Next Morning

The Great Hall was full of murmurs excited talking about who would be the Triwizard Champion for each school. Lots of girls were swooning over Krum and Hermione was proud to say that she wasn’t one of those girls.

Like everyday Hermione looked up at the Professors’ table to look as Professor Mulligan to find her staring at her already. This time though instead of waiting for Mulligan to wink her honey colored eye at Hermione, Hermione winked at her first. Mulligan wasn’t expecting Hermione to wink first and her eyes widened before a light blush settled on her cheeks.

Ginny elbowed Hermione whispering in her ear, “What was that about?”

Hermione whispered back truthfully, “I really don’t know Ginny.”

Ginny gave her a look that clearly said ‘We’ll be talking later’. Hermione and the two boys quickly got up to walk over to the green houses.

\----------------

After Herbology the trio separated, Harry and Ron going off to the common room while Hermione walked to the lake to meet up with Ginny. Hermione found Ginny sitting on a large boulder on the shore of the lake. Ginny heard Hermione’s steps and turned around.

“Hermione you are going to tell me the truth now! What is going on between you and Mulligan? Are you two snogging?”

Hermione turned bright red at the accusation.

“OH MY GOD YOU ARE!” yelled Ginny.

Hermione’s chocolate eyes widened in shock, “NO!” 

Ginny raised an eyebrow.

“Okay so I don’t know exactly what's going on, but we aren’t doing anything of that sort!”

Ginny asked curiously, “Do you even like boys? I’ve never once seen you swoon over a boy.”

Hermione answered, “Uh I don’t know..”

“And what about girls?”

“I don’t know... I think I may though..,”said Hermione, her voice barely above a whisper as she finished the last part of her statement.

Ginny grabbing Hermione’s hands replied sounding wise beyond her years with a gentle smile on her face, “It’s okay not to be sure now you have your whole life to figure it out, just give yourself some time. But, know this Hermione Granger; I’ll always support you no matter what.”

Hermione at this point had burst into tears of happiness and relief. Ginny pulled Hermione into her arms and together they sat in an embrace watching the lake.

\---------------------------------------

Hermione and Ginny returned to the school walking into the Great Hall feeling like much closer friends than they were before. They walked in talking and laughing as they sat down next to the boys.

As dinner winded down Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement about when the names would be drawn. The hall fell silent in anticipation.

“Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision,” said Dumbledore. “I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions’ names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber” — he indicated the door behind the staff table — “where they will be receiving their first instructions.”

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. . . . A few people kept checking their watches. . . .

" Any second,” Lee whispered loudly a couple seats down from Hermione and Ginny.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. The next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it — the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm’s length so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

“The champion for Durmstrang,” he read, in a strong, clear voice, “will be Viktor Krum.”

A storm of loud applause and whoops exploded in the Hall as Viktor stood up from the Slytherin table and made his way to the chamber.

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone’s attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. The second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

“The champion for Beauxbatons,” said Dumbledore, “is Fleur Delacour!”

Looking at the Beauxbatons students many of them looked disappointed in their school’s new champion.

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip, Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

“The Hogwarts champion,” he called, “is Cedric Diggory!”

It suddenly sounded as though there had been an explosion. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers’ table.

“Excellent!” Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. “Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —”

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet glowed red once more and another piece of parchment was expelled from the flame. Every head in the hall seemed fixed to the piece of parchment that fluttered in the air. 

Dumbledore reached out to grab it almost reflexively. He looked at the parchment for a long time before he spoke. Everyone looked at him as he continued to stare at the parchment in disbelief. He cleared his throat and read from the paper.

“Harry Potter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again comment any concerns or questions you have for me and i'll try to answer as soon as I can.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I wasn't going to post for a while but once I finished this chapter I couldn't help myself so you guys get another chapter. :)

Every head had turned in the Great Hall to look at Harry. Ron stared at Harry with a look of shock and anger on his face. Hermione couldn’t believe this was happening. All the trio wanted was to have one normal year. 

“I didn’t put my name in,” Harry said blankly to Hermione and Ron. “You know I didn’t.”

“Harry Potter!” he called again. “Harry! Up here, if you please!”

“Go on,” Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push. 

Harry got to his feet and Hermione saw him trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It seemed like an immensely long walk; the top table didn’t seem to be getting any nearer at all, and Hermione could see hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an eternity, he was right in front of the High Table, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

“Well . . . through the door, Harry,” said Dumbledore. Dumbledore didn't have his customary smile and twinkle in his eye; on the contrary he looked solem. Hermione saw him walk through the door hesitantly. Not one person smiled or congratulated him. Ludo Bagman followed Harry close behind into the chamber. About a minute later Dumbledore, Madam Maxime, Karkaroff, Barty Crouch, Professors McGonagall and Snape rushed into the chamber.

Hermione sat at the table numb from what she heard. Looking up at the High table she caught the eye of Mulligan who didn’t look that shocked. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows at Mulligan all Mulligan did in return was to shrug her shoulders. After their nonverbal exchange the professor stood up from the table to make her way into the chamber.

Flitwick stood on his chair to announce to the Hall,“Please head back to your dormitories and try to get some sleep tonight has been an eventful night.”

\---------------------------------

In the girls dormitory Hermione took out her book on famous and infamous wands. Hermione had been reading the book tirelessly but the book still held no answers about the mystery wand. When Hermione finished the book she didn’t know anymore than she did before reading the book. 

\--------------------------------

Hermione woke up early the next morning thinking to herself that she should go on a run to try and clear her mind. She pulled on her navy hoodie, a pair of black leggings, and her trainers. Next, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and began her walk to the lake.

Once arriving at the lake Hermione broke out into a slow jog around the lake gradually increasing her pace till she was close to sprinting. She began to think about the conversation that she and Ginny had a couple of days ago. Did she even like boys? As she thought back on it things began to click into place and she came to the conclusion that she only liked girls. A gentle smile appeared on her face after she finally made sense of herself. She became so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice that someone was watching her.

“Granger what are you running from?” yelled Mulligan. Once Hermione saw the look on Mulligan’s face she had to stop running. She was laughing too hard at the concerned and slightly fearful look on her professor’s face.

“Why are you laughing? This is a serious matter!”exclaimed Mulligan with a concerned and slightly annoyed look on her face. And with that statement Hermione actually fell over laughing.

Mulligan rolled her eyes and said,“Since you clearly don't need my help I'll head back to the castle.” 

“Wait, I’m sorry it’s just that a lot of muggles and muggle borns run as a way to release stress or even just for fun.”

Mulligan raised an eyebrow with an incredulous look on her face,“For fun.”

“Yep, but I like to run to release stress.”

Mulligan made a noise of acknowledgment. They stood watching the lake for a few minutes before Hermione asked,“What are you doing out here so early professor?”

“I like to come out here to relax after I've been stressing over things. It’s something I’ve done since I went to school here.”

“It is quite peaceful out here.”

The duo began to walk around the lake only for Hermione to trip over a root. Mulligan reacted with lightning quick reflexes and caught her before she could face plant into the rocky shore. They stood like that for a couple of minutes that to Hermione felt like hours. Mulligan had her arms wrapped around the younger girl’s frame with Hermione’s head on her chest and Hermione had wrapped her arms around the professor's waist so the two of them stood in a lovers embrace of sorts. Mulligan was the first to realize how inappropriate their position was and quickly released Hermione from her arms. Hermione blushed a deep red at how much she actually enjoyed being held by her professor. Looking at Thalia’s face- _ ‘Wait when did I start thinking of her as Thalia’ _ -she could see a light blush on Thalia’s cheeks as well as the faint shimmering again.

“Uhm.. Thank you for catching me,”said Hermione still furiously blushing.

“Anytime,”responded a very flustered Thalia.

The two witches sepparted to go their own ways still blushing over their embrace.

\------------------------------

“I didn’t put my name in that goblet!” said Harry, angrily. Hermione found the two boys talking in a deserted corridor.

“Yeah, okay,” said Ron, in a sceptical tone. “Only you said this morning you’d have done it last night, and no one would’ve seen you. . . . I’m not stupid, you know.” 

“You’re doing a really good impression of it,” Harry snapped. 

“Yeah?” said Ron, and there was no trace of a grin, forced or otherwise, on his face now. 

Hermione chose this moment to talk some sense into the boys. “Ronald you know all the three of us want is one normal year so why on earth do you think Harry entered his name into the competition?”

Ron looked at Hermione with a hurt look and stormed off mad that Hermione wouldn’t take his side in the argument.

“He won’t believe that I didn’t enter in the tournament. You believe me right Hermione?” Harry asked, desperate to have someone believe him.

“Of course I believe you Harry!” said Hermione,“Ignore Ron, he’s just jealous that he can’t compete.”

“I don’t know what to do now, Hermione.”

“Write to Sirius. You’ve got to tell him what’s happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that’s going on at Hogwarts. . . . It’s almost as if he expected something like this to happen. I brought some parchment and a quill out with me —” 

“Come off it,” said Harry, looking around to check that they couldn’t be overheard, but the corridor was quite deserted. “He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He’ll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone’s entered me in the Triwizard Tournament —” 

� “He’d want you to tell him,” said Hermione sternly. “He’s going to find out anyway —”

“How?”

“Harry, this isn’t going to be kept quiet,” said Hermione, very seriously. “This tournament’s famous, and you’re famous. I’ll be really surprised if there isn’t anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing. . . . You’re already in half the books about You Know-Who, you know . . . and Sirius would rather hear it from you, I know he would.” 

“Okay, okay, I’ll write to him,” said Harry, turning to make his way to the owlery.

Once they made it up to the Owlery, Hermione gave Harry a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink, then strolled around the long lines of perches, looking at all the different owls, while Harry sat down against a wall and wrote his letter. 

\--------------------------------

“Finished,” he announced to Hermione, getting to his feet and brushing dust off his robes. Hermione then pointed out a large grey horned owl for him to send the letter. The duo then made their way to the rest of their classes for the day.

\-----------------------------

Hermione went to bed that night replaying in her head the moment when she was in her beautiful professor’s arms. She drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

\-----------------------------

Bellatrix removed her glamor after all her classes for the day and began to pace in her quarters.

_ ‘Why did I feel that way? She’s mud. I shouldn’t feel this way about her kind.’ _

_ ‘But I can’t deny the way she makes me feel.’ _

_ ‘No you have a job to do you must make him proud! No distractions!’ _

_ ‘But it would be so easy to let Hermione distract me’ _

She continued debating with herself until she reached the decision that Granger was the exception to her rules. She could afford to have a small distraction. 

What harm could come from it?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go next chapter!
> 
> Warning for child abuse and rape mentions at the end.
> 
> Please skip the end of this chaper if it triggers you. There are stars before it's mentioned.

**BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN**

In early September ministry officials and aurors made their way to the prison to do a routine checkup. Upon their arrival they made their way to Bellatrix Black’s cell to find her missing and the cell deserted. Aurors immediately checked the area and found not one clue to help them on their search for Black. At the time of writing this article there are no leads and at the moment it has been declared a cold case. 

Many of the aurors speculate that Black may have escaped by the aid of an unregistered animagus form. Others believe that Black got outside aid from Sirius Black or other death eaters. 

The Ministry wants to take this moment to announce that anyone found withholding information relevant to this case can and will be charged with aiding and abetting a wanted and highly dangerous criminal and will be sentenced to a year in Azkaban. 

——————————-

Hermione opened her eyes only to quickly close them for she had forgotten to close her blinds the previous night. When she opened her eyes for the second time she realized she still had the same smile from the previous night plastered on her face. Hermione laid in bed letting herself absorb all the events that had happened in the past couple of days. 

‘I need to help keep Harry safe, but how?’

Hermione pondered that question as she got up to pull on her uniform and attempted to tame her mane of unruly hair. After she gave up on her hair and just pulled it back into a ponytail she came to the conclusion that she would keep Harry safe by offering as much help as she possibly could. Confidently getting walking out of the dormitory she found Harry and Ginny waiting for her in the common room. 

“Good morning!” greeted Hermione grinning widely. 

Harry and Ginny stared at her wondering why she was so happy but nonetheless they greeted her in the same manner, her cheery mood contagious. Together chatting and joking the three of them made their way to the Great Hall. 

—————————

The trio sat down and loaded their plates with an assortment of food and treats. Talking about their schedules for the day they made plans to meet up after Harry and Hermione finished their classes for the day to talk about what the first task may have in store for the champions. 

Hermione per usual looked up at the High Table and smiled at Thalia. Thalia then smiled in return and winked at Hermione. At the same time she winked a note appeared in her lap. Hermione looked up questionly at Thalia all Thalia did in return was nod and then look away. 

The note read,‘Meet me at the lake before dinner.’

Hermione looked up to try and find an answer as to why Thalia wanted to meet with her, but found that her professor had disappeared. She furrowed her eyebrows and reread the note.

“Hermione!”

Hermione looked up at Harry and Ginny both sitting in front of her with confused and concerned looks on their faces respectively.

“Sorry guys,”said Hermione apologetically. “I got lost in my thoughts.”

Harry seeming content with that answer went back to eating his eggs while Ginny looked as if she didn’t believe Hermione. Before Ginny could say anything about Hermione’s answer Harry butted into the conversation.

“Hermione don’t we have to go to class now?”

Hermione’s eyes widened in shock at losing track of time. She jumped up, panicked, grabbed her bag and broke out into a speed in between a walk and a jog. Harry followed her close behind as they raced through the corridors desperate not to be late to McGonagall’s class.

“-es anyone know what today’s lesson i-” McGonagall stopped in the middle of her question when she saw her star pupil and Harry Potter burst through the classroom door. Every head in the class turned to stare at the two newcomers.

“I’m so sor-”

“Sorry we are la-”

Harry and Hermione began to speak at the same time before stopping to look at each other. McGonagall sighed in disappointment and took five points from Gryffindor for the pair being late.

“Now as I was saying before I was interrupted does anyone know what we will be learning about in today’s lesson?”

Hermione’s hand launched in the air and she answered after she was called on,“ Today we will be learning about animagus transformations.”

And with that answer Hermione had earned her house back the points that they had lost. McGonagall went on to explain how to become an animagus, all the steps and procedures one must go through to obtain this form, and finally why they were learning about this topic now.

“I’m sure many of you students are wondering why I’m bringing this up now of all times to do so. Well to answer your questions two of my top students, grades four and up, will get the chance to become an animagus. It will be two students per grade, not throughout the entire school. These students were already predetermined by myself, Professor Mulligan, and Professor Dumbledore. Now if you are chosen you can say no to this opportunity and we will pass it down to the runners up.”

The class began to murmur excitedly.

“I have already awarded this to one of the students in this grade. That student being Ms. Lovegood. The final student is Hermione Granger!”

Hermione looked at her in a mixture of shock and excitement.

“Will you be accepting this offer Ms. Granger?”

“Yes, Professor, I will be.”

McGonagall nodded her head in acceptance and went on to explain more about the trials of becoming an animagus. She explained that each student would only be getting one chance to complete this spell. Hermione listened attentively, already planning how she would complete the spell.

\------------------------------------

Walking into the DADA classroom Hermione noticed something off all the desks had been removed from the room. A sense of excitement rushed through Hermione knowing that today they would be practicing a new spell.

Once everyone in the class sat down Mulligan revealed herself.

“Good afternoon students!” Mulligan excitedly said.

The class responded back in a similar manner excited for what was to come.

“Today we will be working on the patronus charm! While this charm may not seem that difficult it can be difficult to give the correct amount of emotion to power this spell. You must have a powerful emotion such as love or the need to protect. Now the incantation is _Expecto Patronum_. The wand movement is to swirl your wand like so.” Mulligan trailed off demonstrating the wand movement.

“Any questions?” She paused waiting for any hands to go up,“Mr. Longbottom.”

“Is it true that death eaters can’t produce a patronus?”

Mulligan paused for a moment thinking carefully before answering,“ Yes and no Mr. Longbottom death eaters that redeem themselves or haven’t dabbled in too much dark magic can cast the patronus charm. If a death eater is too far from redemption or any person for that matter, they will not be able to cast a patronus. Does that answer your question Mr. Longbottom?”

Neville nodded his head.

“Who would like to start us off?”

Hermione raised her hand and asked,“Professor why don’t you cast one first so we can see the correct technique?”

The rest of the class began to murmur and nod their heads in agreement.

“Alright then,”grumbled Mulligan. “ _Expecto Patronum!_ ”

A large shape came barreling out of the professor’s wand. The class gasped in shock as they realized what animal it was. A large black panther began butting it’s head on the professor’s leg and purring. Even Mulligan looked surprised at her patronus but quickly schooled her expression into one of nonchalance.

The students began to talk voices getting louder as the excitement continued to grow.

“Students you may begin attempting to summon your patronus now.”Mulligan began to move around the classroom, with her patronus following close behind, helping any student that seemed as if they were struggling.

The first student to summon their patronus was Harry and a large stag began to gallop around the room. Following close behind him Hermione summoned her patronus using the memories of when she received her Hogwarts letter, Ginny telling her that she would always support her, and Thalia’s embrace that day at the lake. The glowing silvery shape took the form of a lioness. The lion began to run in circles around Hermione smiling a grin or as close as a grin the lion could get to.

“Good job Ms. Granger!” praised Mulligan placing her hand on Hermione’s shoulder and stroking her shoulder with her thumb. 

Hermione blushed at the praise and touch, and shyly responded,“Thank you.”

Thalia looked like she wanted to say something else but her attention was quickly drawn elsewhere as Seamus Finnagan had a fox running circles around him. 

By the end of the period Ron and Draco managed to summon their patronuses, a terrier and a ferret respectively. Neville had tried time and time again but was only able to summon a non corporeal form.

\----------------------------------

After class Hermione pulled Harry along behind her towards the deserted area of the lake. Ginny had already been waiting for the two of them and jumped up from the log she had been sitting on. The trio began to talk about everything except the subject of the tournament. Hermione had fallen silent while the other two continued to talk. Ginny finally noticed that Hermione looked distraught and a bit scared.

“Hermione what's wrong?”

Harry and Ginny both looked at Hermione with identical expressions of concern.

“I need to tell you guys something…” Hermione hesitantly said after a few seconds of silence.

“Okay…,” came Ginny’s response.

Harry said supportively,“Whatever it is, take your time we will always be here for you.”

“Uhm… God why is this so hard to say!”

Harry and Ginny had both grabbed one of Hermione’s hands and held them silently offering her their support. Hermione paused for a minute with her eyes closed.

“I’m a lesbian,”said Hermione quietly with her eyes still screwed shut.

“Hermione open your eyes,”said Ginny calmly.

Hermione hesitantly opened her eyes and saw that Ginny and Harry were looking at her. Harry was looking at her with a look of shock that quickly morphed into a face of acceptance and pride. Ginny was looking at her with a prideful expression.

“Hermione, we are both so proud of you for finding the courage to tell us this and ultimately figuring yourself out,” Ginny said, smiling a radiant smile.

Harry nodded in agreement and quickly pulled Hermione into a hug whispering how thankful he was to have her as a friend and how he would never judge her for loving who she wants to love. After the two had been hugging for a couple more minutes Ginny joined in. After they all pulled away from the hug, happy tears streaming down their faces, Harry and Ginny made their way to the Hall for dinner. Hermione had told them that she needed a bit more time to herself before dinner. Brushing off her tears, Hermione made her way to the spot where she tripped and Thalia had caught her to wait for her professor.

“Hermione, glad to see you made it here,”said Thalia with a smile on her face.

Hermione greeted her professor in the same manner. For a while the two of them stood together neither saying a word both of them lost in their thoughts. Both professor and student were reminiscing over the same memory; their embrace. When both parties stopped thinking about the past both of them had light blushes on their cheeks. Hermione was the first to speak.

“Professor can I ask why you wanted to meet with me?”

“I wanted to meet with you so that I could talk to you about your chance to achieve your animagus form.”

“Professor I’m sorry if this seems rude but how is this your area of expertise?”

“I myself am an animagus. I’ve been working with Professor McGonagall on this project.”

Hermione looked at her professor with a look of surprise and awe, causing Thalia to blush at the look.

“Could you show me your form Professor?”

“Not at the moment for we must head back to the Great Hall for dinner.”

Hermione made a face of disappointment but nonetheless made her way back to the castle with Thalia following close behind.

\----------------------------

Bellatrix paced in her quarters later that night. She thought to herself _‘Why am I serving the Dark Lord?’_

_‘I clearly don’t agree with his ideals anymore. So why do I follow him?’_

_‘Because he’s the only one who’s ever shown you love or any form of it’_

_‘What about Andy and Narcissa?’_

_‘Did either of them come looking for you?’_

_‘No, but I didn’t reach out to them.’_

_‘But they could have reached out to you.’_

_‘How?’_

The voice went silent and Bellatrix grinned in triumph.

_‘What about the mudblood? She’ll leave you the moment she finds out who you are if she even wants you in the first place.’_

_‘You don’t know that.’_

_‘But I know how people work, they run from what scares them. Just like you.’_

**“I’M NOT A COWARD!”** Bellatrix shrieked at the voice.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Bellatrix curled up in a ball on her emerald green rug and began trying and failing to comfort herself as the horrible childhood memories plagued her. Her father beating her with a belt. Making her father mad to protect her siblings from his anger. Her father torturing her with the cruciatus curse. Her father hitting her with his fists never stopping even when she begged. Her father even going as far as to rape her when he found her in bed with another witch.

Bellatrix fell asleep that way curled up on the floor crying over what her father did to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Bella :(
> 
> Please comment any questions or concerns you have for me and I'll do my best to get back to you guys as soon as I can!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! I hope you guys enjoy!

“Hermione where are you!” 

Hermione jerked her head up to see Harry running towards her with a distraught look on his face.

“Harry?!? What’s wrong?”

“It was horrible!”

“What was horrible?”

“Rita Skeeter interviewed me and wrote only lies. I didn’t even say half the stuff she wrote down and she kept twisting my words.”

Hermione looked at him sympathetically,“ Harry that’s horrible!”

“Luckily Dumbledore interrupted her interview before she could try twisting my words again.”

“Is that all you were pulled out of class for?”

“No, we had Ollivander check our wands.”

“Wait! Ollivander is here in the castle?!”

“Yes but I think he’s about to leave. Wait Hermione where are you going?”

“I’m really sorry Harry I need to go,“Hermione called over her shoulder running to the school entrance.

\-------------------------------

Hermione ran through the halls ignoring all the strange looks she was getting her mind focused on getting to Olivander before he left school grounds.

Hermione found him at the entrance of the school talking to Dumbledore.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but can I please ask you some questions Mr. Ollivander?”

Dumbledore merely chuckled at Hermione’s enthusiasm and said,“I’ll leave you to it! It was a pleasure having you here  Garrick.” With that Dumbledore stode away.

“I remember your wand well Ms. Granger, 10 3/4 vine wood with a dragon heartstring core.”

“Mr. Ollivander, do you remember every wand you’ve made?”

“Yes, why?”

“I was wondering if you remembered a certain wand. The wand is 12 3/4 inches walnut wood with a dragon heartstring core.”

Ollivander suddenly went very pale and demanded to know where she saw this wand.

“I saw it in a book but there was no name mentioned,” responded Hermione, not quite sure why she lied to the wandmaker. Upon hearing that she saw it in a book Ollivander relaxed but not much and Hermione soon understood why.

“That wand belongs to Bellatrix Black.”

\--------------------------------------

Upon hearing Olivanders answer Hermione walked to the Great Hall slowly still attempting to process the fact that her teacher possessed the wand of argubly the most dangerous person alive. 

‘Why would Thalia have Bellatrix’s wand?’

‘Maybe it’s for show or a replica?’

‘Why would she keep it hidden then?’

Hermione’s thoughts kept looping back to the fact that she had a wand ,fake or not, hidden away and that in itself is very suspicious. 

When she finally made it back to the Hall Harry asked her, “Did you find whatever you were looking for?”

“Yes.”

Harry then went on explaining how Hagrid was going to show him something later that night. Hermione nodded but besides that didn’t acknowledge what Harry said. Harry and Ginny just assumed that she was stressed out over the upcoming tests and left her to her own thoughts. 

————————————

Hermione walked out of the common room the next morning only to be dragged into the nearest corridor. 

“It’s dragons.”

“What?”

“The first task is dragons.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in shock and promptly announced that they were going to the library to do some research. 

————————————

That night Hermione lay awake in bed not worrying about what was to come tomorrow for she and Harry had devised a perfect plan to get past the dragon. She was more so worried about the fact that Thalia had Bellatrix’s wand. 

_ ‘How am I going to bring this up? Maybe I should just be straight forward’ _

_ ‘Why do you have Bellatrix Black’s wand’ _

_ ‘No that's a good way to scare Thalia off from talking to me’ _

_ ‘Do you have a spare wand?’ _

_ ‘No she’ll probably piece it together that I was snooping’ _

This debate went on for hours until Hermione passed out from exhaustion.

\--------------------------

It was worse than Hermione could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening once she glanced over at the teachers’ stand and saw Thalia watching her carefully with a look of concern on her face. Thalia only stopped watching her when Hermione shot her a reassuring smile. Hermione then took the chance to study Thalia’s face, worried when she saw the dark circles under her eyes and the haunted look on her face.

The crowd screamed . . . yelled . . . gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Bagman’s commentary while Hermione could see what was going on made everything much, much worse. . . . Horrible pictures formed in Hermione’s mind �as she pictured what she heard:

“Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow” . . . “He’s taking risks, this one!” . . . “Clever move — pity it didn’t work!” 

And then, after about fifteen minutes, Hermione heard the deafening roar, as she had to look away from the scene, that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.

“Very good indeed!” Bagman was shouting. “And now the marks from the judges!”Hermione added up the points and calculated that Cedric got a 36. 

“One down, three to go!” Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. “Miss Delacour, if you please!” 

Fleur was trembling from head to foot as she left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. Only Harry and Krum were left in the tent. 

“Oh I’m not sure that was wise!” Hermione heard Bagman shouting gleefully. “Oh . . . nearly! Careful now . . . good lord, I thought she’d had it then!”

Ten minutes later, Hermione heard the crowd erupt into applause once more, finally looking up to see what score Fleur would receive. A pause, while Fleur’s marks were being shown . . . Hermione saw that Fleur had only scored a 30 . . . then, for the third time, the whistle. 

“And here comes Mr. Krum!” cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry alone in the tent. 

Hermione sat in the crowd fearful for what may happen during Harry’s task. 

“Very daring!” Bagman was yelling, and Hermione heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. “That’s some nerve he’s showing — and — yes, he’s got the egg!”

Hermione looked up to see Krum holding his egg triumphantly and grinning at the crowd. The judges gave him a grand total of 40 points.

Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished — it would be Harry’s turn any moment. Hermione saw Harry step foot into the inclosure looking as pale as a sheet. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, leaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Hermione didn’t know or care. Harry raised his wand.

“Accio Firebolt!” he shouted. 

Harry waited, every fiber of him hoping, praying. . . . If it hadn’t worked, . . . if it wasn’t coming . . . 

Harry turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to hop on. The crowd was making even more noise. . . . Bagman was shouting something . . . but Hermione’s ears were not working properly anymore . . . listening wasn’t important. . . . Harry swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, something miraculous happened. 

As he soared upward, he became as small as a pinhead and Hermione had trouble finding him in the sky. Harry dived at the clutch of eggs. Hermione gasped in horror, her stomach clenching in fear. The Horntail’s head followed him; Harry knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away .

“Great Scott, he can fly!” yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. “Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?” 

Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following� his progress; its head revolving on its long neck — if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy — but better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again — Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky — he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long, sharp spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes — Hermione screamed out, but Harry looked unfazed.

Now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and a possibility occurred to Hermione. . . . The Horntail didn’t seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them . . . but he would have to persuade her to do it, or he’d never get near them. . . . The trick was to do it carefully, gradually. . . . He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared. . . . He flew higher. The Horntail’s head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer. . . . Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. 

He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now. . . . She shot fire into the air, which he dodged. . . . Her jaws opened wide. . . . And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane — and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs — he had taken his hands off his Firebolt — he had seized the golden egg — And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm, Hermione caught Harry’s eye and she smiled at him and mouthed ‘Good job’. 

Once the dragon was safely put back in it’s cage the judges gave their score totalling up to 40 points tying him with Krum.

\-------------------------------

Harry laid in the hospital wing getting his shoulder wrapped up. Hermione and Ginny sat on either side of him both yelling at him for scaring them. Ron walked into the hospital wing and made his way over to the now laughing trio.

“Good job out there Harry,” said Ron.

“Er thank you Ron.”

“Look Harry, I want to apologize for how I've been acting towards you. You would have to be mad to enter in this competition.”

“Caught on, have you?” said Harry coldly. “Took you long enough.”

“I’m so sorry mate and I wanted to ask you for a second chance.”

“You can have a second chance but don’t expect us to go back to mates just yet.”

Ron nodded his head and all but ran out of the hospital wing. The trio continued talking and joking but Hermione couldn’t bring herself to trust Ron just yet.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment any questions, concerns, or comments you have for me!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What! Another chapter! Like usual I hope you enjoy!

Later that night a huge party raged on in the Gryffindor common room.

“Open it Harry!”

Slowly one person at a time a chant began to build until everyone in the common room was shouting “OPEN IT!”

Harry eventually gave into the peer pressure and opened the egg. Horrendous screeching filled the common room and Hermione had to clamp her hands over her ears. Hermione saw Harry wrestling with the clasp on the egg and once he finally got it closed Everyone uncovered their ears.

Grumbling and groaning was heard throughout the common room as the party came to an end, nobody wanting to party with the awful headache they all now had.

\---------------------------------

The next morning Hermione, Harry and Ginny set off to go to their first class and then to go search the library. McGonagall announced after the lesson had ended,“The Yule Ball is approaching — a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above — although you may invite a younger student if you wish —” 

Lavender had let out a shill giggle that had Hermione clenching her teeth.

“Dress robes will be worn,” Professor McGonagall continued, “and the ball will start at eight o’clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then —” Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class. 

“The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to — er — let our hair down,” she said, in a disapproving voice. “But that does NOT mean,” Professor McGonagall went on, “that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way.” 

\------------------------------

After hours of searching for books, Hermione was the only one still in the library the other two had left after only one hour. Hermione hadn’t managed to find any book that explained the origin of the screeching.

“Hermy-own”

Hermione spun around when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

“Viktor what can I do for you?”

“Would you do me the honor of taking a beautiful woman to the Yule Ball?”

Hermione’s eyes widened in shock before she gave Viktor an apologetic smile,“ Uhm Viktor I think you are a nice guy and all, but I’m just not really interested in men so I don’t believe I will be able to accompany you to the ball like you may wish me to.”

Viktor’s face fell a little but he then said to Hermione,“I don’t mind that you like women, but I would still like to accompany you to the ball as friends if that’s agreeable?”

“Uh yeah that would work,”said Hermione but added on sternly after. “No funny business though.”

“No funny business,”Viktor repeated solemnly.

The rest of the time they spent out by the lake talking and getting to know each other and laughing.

\----------------------------

“Granger, if you’re done snogging follow me I need to talk to you,” Thalia growled glaring at Krum.

Hermione and Viktor were sitting on a fallen tree talking about rights for magical creatures and watching the giant squid when Thalia had snuck up behind them.

“We weren’t-”

“I wasn’t-”

Viktor and Hermione both protested the statement at the same time. 

“Whatever you say,”said Thalia, rolling her eyes and stalking away.

Hermione and Viktor exchanged bewildered glances before hearing

“Hurry up Granger I don’t have all day!”

Hermione quickly said bye to Krum and ran to catch up to the taller brunette.

“Professor where are you taking me?”

“To my classroom,”came the reply.

Once the door to the class had been locked Mulligan spun around and instantly asked Hermione placing her hands on Hermione’s shoulders.

“What do you know about the egg?”

“Uh not much why?”

“Next time you take a bath give the egg a nice soak,”came the cryptic answer.

“What?”

“I can’t tell you anymore.” Thalia slipping her hands off Hermione’s shoulders.

“Okay thank you for the help anyways,”Hermione said with a confused look on her face making her way to the door.

“Wait, I have something for you.”

Hermione turned back around and saw Thalia standing with a book. Thalia handed Hermione the book and whispered in her ear ‘ _ Good luck, I can’t wait to see you at the ball _ ’ before brushing past Hermione, her hand trailing over Hermione’s shoulder.

Once Thalia had left Hermione was still bushing a bright red and was sure she looked like Rudolph. Hermione looked down at the book titled,  **_Aquatic creatures_ ** , and wondered why Thalia would give her a book about aquatic creatures. Surely the next task wasn’t underwater. Right?!?

\----------------------------

Hermione walked back into the common room to see Harry and Ginny clustered around a horrified looking Ron.

“What happened?”

“He — er — just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him,” said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron’s arm sympathetically. 

“You  **_what_ ** ?” said Hermione. 

“I don’t know what made me do it!” Ron gasped again. “What was I playing at? There were people — all around — I’ve gone mad — everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall — she was standing there talking to Diggory — and it sort of came over me — and I asked her!” 

“He didn’t ask her,” butted in Ginny,“ he yelled it at her.”

“She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn’t even answer. And then — I dunno — I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it.” 

Hermione looked at Ron a bit aghast but for the most part sympathetic.

“This is mad,” said Ron. “We’re the only ones left who haven’t got anyone to go with.”

Harry at this point said to Ron,“I’m going with someone mate.” Ginny blushed from behind Ron.

Ron just groaned and said,“Great now it’s just me and Hermione.”

Ron paused for a second before saying,“Wait Hermione you’re a girl.”

“Well spotted Ron,”deadpanned Hermione.

“Well — you can come with me!” 

“No, I can’t,” snapped Hermione.

“Oh come on,” he said impatiently, “I need a partner, I’m going to look really stupid if I haven’t got one, everyone else has . . .” 

“I can’t come with you,” said Hermione, “because I’m already going with someone.” 

“No, you’re not!” said Ron. 

Hermione her eyes flashing dangerously. “Just because it’s taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn’t mean no one else has spotted I’m a girl!” 

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again. “Okay, okay, we know you’re a girl,” he said. “That do? Will you come now?” 

“I’ve already told you!” Hermione said angrily. “I’m going with someone else!” 

“Who?” came the accusing voice.

“None of your business.”

Hermione stormed off to her room seething after Ronald said all that to her.

After Hermione had calmed down a bit she made the decision to look better than anyone at the ball. Not for anyone but herself. At least that's what she told herself when she obviously wanted to impress Thalia. And show her that she wasn’t just some ordinary girl.

**She was Hermione Granger.**

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again questions and comments are encouraged!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go next chapter! I'll probably be updating about once a day now that I've writen a lot of chapters in advance.

Hermione woke up in the middle of the night to the crack of thunder. Hermione immediately knew that it was time for her to meet with McGonagall and Thalia. When Hermione rusheed out of her common room Thalia was already waiting to collect her.

“Hurry up Granger we are already late.”

Hermione ran after her professor who was rushing through the halls to get outside. Hermione’s bare feet touched the wet muddy ground as she had forgotten her shoes she was in such a rush. McGongall turned around and quickly handed Hermione a vial filled with the potion necessary to complete the transformation. 

Hermione recited,“ _ Amato Animo Animato Animagus _ !” Her wand pointing at her heart. After repeating the incantation she downed the potion.

Hermione felt herself shrinking and her arms elongating. Fur began to grow on her body. Her face lengthened into a snout. 

Standing in Hermione’s place was a large lioness, with dark brown coloration so dark that she was almost black. Both professors look at her in shock before telling her to try moving in her new form.

Hermione took off sprinting enjoying the way the wind felt ruffling her fur. She felt as though she could run forever. Chuffing her happiness as she stopped in front of her professors causing Thalia to jump at the sound and McGonagall just to chuckle.

“Hermione, I'm going to need you to picture yourself changing back into your body,”McGonagall instructed.

Hermione concentrated and sure enough found herself back in her normal form, feeling bone tired. Thalia helped Hermione to her feet and placed her arm around Hermione’s back supporting her on their way back to the castle.

About halfway to the Gryffindor common room Hermione had fallen asleep. Thalia just chuckled and picked her up carrying her bridal style. Hermione nestled her face in Thalia’s neck fast asleep. Thalia held Hermione close to her vowing that she would never harm the girl and would do everything she could to protect her. 

Once making it to the common room Thalia gently put down Hermione on her bed. Thalia tucked her in and brushed a hair out of Hermione’s face. Thalia sat admiring how beautiful Hermione looked in the moonlight. Thalia caught herself before she placed a kiss on Hermione’s head and swept out of the common room. Her billowing robes rivaling those of Snape. 

\-------------------------

The next morning Hermione woke up confused as to how she got in bed. 

‘How did I get here? I was outside in my animagus form.’

The more Hermione thought about it she realized that she had fallen asleep on the way back to her dormitory. She had woken up when Thalia had placed her on her bed. 

‘She carried me to bed,‘realized Hermione with a huge smile taking over her face. Hermione jumped out of bed giddy with happiness. She quickly got dressed and walked out of the dormitory. She would have run but her muscles were too sore. When she made it to the common room Hermione realized that she woke up later than normal and quickly made her way to the Great Hall. 

———————-

Hermione sat down next to Ginny, Harry and Ron day on the other side of the table. Hermione saw the food in front of her and suddenly became ravenous and began to fill a plate with everything she could. Ginny looked at Hermione confused since she’s never seen Hermione eat more than a scone and toast for breakfast. Harry and Ron took no notice as they were too busy talking about the upcoming task. 

“Hermione are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah I'm feeling better than I ever have.”

“Okay…”came Ginny's sceptical response.

“I achieved my form last night!”said Hermione. 

“Really!?! What animal are you?”

“I’m a dark brown lion!” said Hermione puffing out her chest in pride. 

“Woah. That’s so cool!”

The two of them began to talk about class and similar topics. Hermione looked up at the high table and saw Thalia watching her. Hermione’s eyebrows furrowed, noticing that her eyes weren't the normal honey brown and instead they were a dark brown so dark that they looked black. Nonetheless Hermione smiled at her and Thalia smiled back in return until her attention was pulled away as an owl had landed with a letter for her. Thalia lost all the coloring in her face and her dark eyes looked scared. She left the Great Hall in a hurry. 

Hermione watched her sweep out of the Hall confused as to what could scare her so bad as to leave the Hall. 

Ginny whispered into Hermione’s ear,“ We are going to talk about that now.” 

Hermione nodded at Ginny and together they walked out of the Hall to the deserted area of the lake. 

“Hermione, what exactly is going on between the two of you. Don’t give me the ‘I don't know answer’.”

Hermione looked at Ginny with wide eyes. 

“Ginny the truth is I don’t know. We flirt with each other and stuff like that but it’s never gone further.”

“Do you want it to go further?”

“What!”

“Do you want it to go further?” Ginny calmly repeated. 

“Yes,” Hermione said without thinking,“Wait no I mean no.”

“Are you sure about that?”said Ginny with an amused smile on her face. “You know that I won’t judge you. I said that I was always going to be here for you and I meant that.”

“Yes I do want it to go further. I want to be the one holding her hand. I want to be the one to cuddle with her at night. I want to be the one to take her on dates. I want to be the one to kiss her,” Hermione blurted out trailing off at the end, finally realizing how head over heels she was for Thalia. 

Ginny just looked at her with a knowing look and said to her,“We need to go to class now.”

Hermione walked next to Ginny, thankful that she decided not to push the subject. 

——————————

In charms class, Hermione sat watching Flitwick with rapt attention. 

“Today we will learn about full body glamours. The incantation is  _ Corpus Pulchritudo _ . To spot a full bodied glamor is close to impossible if the caster is powerful enough and performs the spell correctly. If this is the case the only time you may see a flaw is if you are carefully watching this person’s face you may see a faint flicker or the eye color may change to the caster's actual eye color.” 

Hermione’s eyes widened in shock and realization flashing back to when they were hunting the boggarts and how Thalia's face shimmered, and earlier that morning when Thalia’s eyes changed color. Hermione began to wonder who could be masquerading as Thalia.

Flitwick called the class to an end and dismissed everyone, Hermione all but ran out of the class and to the library.

\-----------------------------------

She ran through the books muttering to herself,“Black.” She found a book on the Black family and opened it frantically flicking through the pages until she got to the picture of Bellatrix. She almost dropped the book as she looked into the dark eyes she saw that morning.

_ ‘Shit’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys know the drill, comments and questions are encouraged and I'll try to get back to you guys as soon as I can


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! I felt kinda bad leaving you guys at a clifhanger so I edited this chapter early.

_ ‘What am I going to do?’ _

_ ‘Should I go to Dumbledore?’ _

_ ‘Should I confront  _ **_her_ ** _?’ _

Hermione was torn from her thoughts as Ginny tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hermione come on we have to go dress shopping!”

“Shopping?”Hermione repeated confused as to why they would need to go shopping.

“Yeah we have the Yule Ball tomorrow. I know you wouldn’t want to go so I decided to wait until you had no other choice but to go with me!”

Hermione groaned, but swung her bag on her shoulder and followed Ginny out of the library; her previous discovery was forgotten as Ginny distracted her.

\---------------------------------------

Ginny and Hermione walked into the dress store to look for their dresses for the ball. Ginny immediately zeroed in on a sleeveless mint green dress. Hermione took a little more time finding a dress. 

After about twenty minutes Hermione finally found a dark burgundy dress. When she put on the dress she immediately knew that the dress was the one she was going to wear. The dress had a deep v neck and a slit up her thigh that stopped half way up her thigh. Hermione walked out to show Ginny. Ginny’s jaw dropped as she saw Hermione for the first time.

“Merlin’s beard! Hermione you look stunning!”

Hermione blushed at the comment and looked away embarrassed by the attention.

“You’re definitely going to catch  **_her_ ** eye.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

The two girls paid for their dresses. Hermione the whole time unsure about how she should feel about Thalia.

\--------------------------------

The day of the ball arrived. Hermione was still in her room getting ready; she refused to use magic to get ready. Hermione had put on her dress and had tamed her hair in loose waves and she was now putting her makeup on. Hermione gave herself a smokey eye and a dark lipstick to tie the whole look together. Hermione made her way quickly to the ball for she realized that she was running a bit late.

\-------------------------------

“Where’s Hermione?” said Harry.

“I dunno,” said Ron,“She’s probably crying in her room since no one asked her.”

Ginny butted in having just arrived down the stairs,“There’s no need to be rude just because she turned you down Ron.”

Harry turned to look at Ginny and his jaw dropped and he looked at her stunned by how beautiful his date was. Ginny blushed at Harry’s look. Ron looked away embarrassed by what Ginny said to him and because he didn’t want to see his best friend and little sister making googly eyes at each other.

\------------------------------------

As Hermione walked down the stairs all conversations stopped and everyone turned to look at the stunning woman walking down the stairs. Krum walked over and held out his arm like the gentleman he was.

“Hermy-own, you look stunning.”

“Thank you Viktor. You don’t look half bad yourself,”said Hermione teasingly.

Viktor just grinned at her in return. The duo walked past groups of people whispering about who the ‘mystery’ girl was. Hermione and Viktor stopped next to Harry, Ginny, and Ron. 

“Hermione you look amazing!”said Ginny.

“Wow! Hermione I didn’t recognize you at first,”Harry said surprised.

Ron didn’t say anything and just walked away.

Harry said in a hushed voice,“Erm Hermione how does this work when you don’t like boys?”

Viktor responded,“We aren’t going as a romantic couple we actually are going as friends.”

Harry just nodded as McGonagall announced.

“Champions over here, please!” 

The four of them made their way over to the entrance. McGonagall informed them that the champions would be dancing first to start off the ball. Hermione and Viktor entered first, elegantly dancing around the room. Hermione looked up to where the teachers sat and saw Thalia’s eyes had narrowed in jealousy. Thalia realized that she was caught and quickly looked away from the couple.

Once the dance ended Krum and Hermione sat down to eat their dinner Hermione periodically looking up at Thalia. Thalia stood up to walk over to McGonagall and Hermione got a full view of Thalia’s stunning dress. The dress was black with dark green highlights, the front of the dress had a scandalous cut showcasing her cleavage. The dress had a slit going up the side of her thigh. Hermione ogled Thalia for a full minute before Viktor drew her attention away. 

The two of them got up again after finishing their dinner to dance to one more song. They swept around the room and Hermione smiled widely enjoying herself. Viktor looked up then and saw that Professor Mulligan was watching Hermione with a jealous glint in her eye. 

Viktor whispered into Hermione’s ear,“Do you trust me?”

“Yes, but why Viktor?”

Viktor didn’t answer Hermione’s question and kissed her rather forcefully on the lips. Hermione’s eyes widened in shock and she pushed Viktor away.

“I thought we said no funny business!”

“I’m sorry Hermy-own but the professor sitting there looked jealous of me and I saw that you’ve been watching her all night.” Viktor gestured to the empty seat that Thalia was sitting in as Thalia had run out as soon as she saw the two kiss.

“So you decided to play matchmaker?!”

Viktor looked like he was about to respond when Hermione cut him off.

“You know what I’m done Viktor don’t talk to me right now.”

Hermione stormed out leaving behind a confused looking Viktor.

\-----------------------------

Hermione ran after Thalia in hopes that she would catch her. She saw Thalia standing in the snow, but before she could get to her Snape and Karkaroff began to talk to her.

“The mark keeps getting darker,” said Karkaroff in his heavy accent.

“He’s getting stronger,” said Snape, looking defeated.

“ _ Are the two babies  _ **_scared_ ** ?”said Thalia in a baby voice, smirking at them.

The two men looked taken aback and the three of them bickered for a few more minutes about who was the weakest before Snape and Karkaroff walked away presumably back to the ball.

Hermione chose this moment to make herself known. Hermione walked towards Thalia. Hermione had made it up in her mind that she was going to confront Thalia about being Bellatrix.

“Thalia!” 

Thalia whipped around and locked her eyes on Hermione,“Hermione what can I do for you?”

“I need you to answer me truthfully.”

Fear flashed in Thalia’s eyes,“Okay.”

Hermione for some reason couldn’t bring herself to ask Thalia if she was Bellatrix and instead asked,“Do you have feelings for me?”

“Yes I do.”

Hermione looked surprised but before she could say anything Thalia cut her off.

“Before you say anything about us dating or something along those lines, I’m way too old for you and this would never work out. There are too many things you don’t know about me-”

Thalia didn’t notice Hermione moving closer to her the whole time she was talking.

“So tell me,”said Hermione, her lips brushing Thalia’s. 

“It’s not that easy-”

Hermione had surged forward and began to kiss Thalia.

Thalia froze in shock for a second before eagerly kissing Hermione back. Hermione was in a state of total bliss as soft lips caressed her lips. Thalia niped Hermione’s lower lip causing Hermione to moan into the kiss. Thalia ran her tongue across Hermione’s lip silently asking for permission which Hermione quickly gave. The two of them deepened the kiss Thalia moaning into the kiss. As the two continued to kiss passionately, hands began to roam. Thalia cupped Hermione’s bum possessively causing Hermione to moan loudly. Hermione locked one of her hands in Thalia’s short hair. Hermione’s other hand fisted the back of Thalia’s black dress. They got impossibly closer, their bodies fitting together perfectly. 

The two finally broke from the kiss breathless and painting for air. After the two regained their breath Thalia asked,“What about Krum?” 

Hermione still flushed from the kiss responded,“He means nothing to me as he is just a friend.”

Thalia, seeming satisfied with that answer, pecked Hermione on the lips and simply said,“Good.”

“What are we now?”

“Whatever you want us to be,”said Thalia, her glamour slipping again to reveal dark eyes.

Hermione just smiled at her and together the two of them walked back into the ball. Hermione forgot about her suspicions of Thalia as she was otherwise preoccupied staring at the gorgeous woman at her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that was a fun chapter to write! Comments and questions are encouraged!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bella's pov today! This chapter was pretty fun to write and I hope you guys enjoy!

Bellatrix woke up the following morning with a huge smile taking over her features. She laid in bed replaying the events that happened the previous evening. Bella brought up a hand to touch her lips and her smile grew impossibly bigger. Bellatrix jumped out of bed and threw on her robes and put her glamour in place. Checking to make sure the spell was in place Thalia walked out of her quarters still smiling on the walk to the hall.

\-----------------------------------------

Sitting down at the high table Thalia was immediately drawn into a conversation with McGonagall and Flitwick about the upcoming task. After talking to the two Professors for a couple of minutes Thalia began to fill a plate with food and prepare her tea. Thalia felt a stare on her and looked up to see Hermione looking at her with a gentle smile on her face. Thalia felt her chest warm with affection for the young witch. Thalia smiled back at her and poofed a note into her lap that read,‘ _ I can still feel your lips on mine. _ ’

Thalia watched amused as Hermione’s face turned as red as her ginger friend’s hair. Thalia turned away and began to eat her breakfast. Looking up she saw Hermione leave the hall with McGonagall. Thalia’s stomach began to turn with nerves as she was scared for what was to come.

\---------------------------------

Thalia watched Harry sprint over to where the other champions stood. Once he reached the other champions he bent over gasping for air. Bagman leaned over to talk to Harry before pointing his wand at his throat and beginning to speak.

“Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One . . . two . . . three!” 

The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Harry pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled the handful of something green out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and jumped into the lake. 

Thalia saw his feet and hands grow webbing and elongate into flippers before he took off into the depths of the lake. Thalia began to tap her foot on the wooden planks in a nervous manner.

It had been an hour and only Fleur was sitting on the dock as her bubble head charm failed. Thalia resorted to pacing on the dock to try and keep her mind off of what could have happened. Excited murmurs arose throughout the crowd as a shark head broke the surface of the water revealing Krum with Hermione. Thalia breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing Hermione she made her way over to Hermione with a towel charmed to heat up. 

“Ms. Granger,”said Thalia, draping the towel across Hermione’s shoulders.

“Tha-Professor!”Hermione started out saying Thalia’s name but quickly realised that there were people surrounding them.

Hermione then thanked Thalia for the towel, Thalia just nodded that she understood and walked off to her office.

\---------------------------------

Thalia was sitting in her office grading third year papers on werewolves when she heard a loud knock at the door.

“Come in,”said Thalia, not looking up, still grading a paper.

Hermione timidly stepped into the classroom. Thalia looked up briefly and then looked back down at the papers she was grading.

“Hermione! Shouldn’t you be off celebrating?”

“I didn’t really want to. I actually wanted to talk to you Thalia.”

“Okay what is it?”Thalia said as she put away the papers.

“Will you be honest with me?”

“Yes,” said Thalia with no hesitation.

“Are you Bellatrix Black?”

Thalia felt her heart drop. She picked up her wand and cast a locking spell on the door and an anti-eavesdropping spell. Thalia stood up, turned around and looked out the window.

“Thalia?” It had been a couple of minutes since Hermione had asked Thalia that question.

“Yes.”

“Yes to what?”

“I’m Bellatrix Black.” Bellatrix turned around and let her glamour drop and revealed her long curly hair, her alabaster skin, her dark eyes, and blood red lips.

Hermione looked terrified and backed up to the door looking ready to bolt.

“I’m not going to hurt you Hermione,”sighed Bellatrix taking a seat in her chair looking and feeling very tired and defeated.

“How can I trust you?”

“Truth be told you can’t.”

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t go to Dumbledore.”

“I’ve changed. I’m not the dark, cold hearted woman anymore. I’ve realized the error of my ways. I don’t want to follow Him anymore.”

“So why do you?”

“Because I have to protect my family and He’s the only person to show me compassion. You must believe me though I’m not the same woman I’ve changed. I don’t believe that muggleborns are lesser than purebloods. You’ve proven to me time and time again that you are so much more powerful than all of your peers and many much older than you.”

“I find this hard to believe Tha-Bellatrix. I need some space, don't talk to me.”

Hermione bolted from the classroom fear etched into her face. Bellatrix collapsed on the floor a mess. Bellatrix began to cry over being rejected by the one person she had grown to lov-care for. Bellatrix rocked herself attempting and failing to comfort herself as she continued crying.

\---------------------------------

Hermione woke up the next morning with all the memories of her conversation with Tha-Bellatrix assaulting her.

_ ‘OH MY GOD I KISSED BELLATRIX!’ _

_ ‘Crap I kissed a death eater!’ _

_ ‘What’s Ginny going to say when she finds out?’ _

Hermione kept freaking out about having kissed a death eater on her way to the Great Hall. Hermione sat down next to her friends and greeted them but didn’t say anything else and picked at a piece of toast. 

Ginny looked at Hermione curiously and throughout the meal she saw that she didn’t look once at Mulligan even though Mulligan was looking at Hermione almost desperately. Ginny wanted to ask Hermione about it but she got up and bolted to her next class leaving Harry, Ron and Ginny behind. Ginny sighed and grabbed her bag and made her way to DADA.

\---------------------------------

“Hermione! What did you do to Mulligan!”

Hermione whipped around and saw Ginny striding towards her at a rapid pace.

“What do you mean?”

“She is a living nightmare today! She gave practically everyone in the class detention and kept lashing out and yelling at us!”

Hermione looked down at her feet and muttered something Ginny couldn’t hear.

“What?”

“I said that we kissed.”

“Is that all!?!” said Ginny incredulously.

“No she told me some stuff and I told her that I couldn’t do whatever we were with her.”

“Do you still want her?”

“No-yes-no I don’t know Ginny!”

“I’m taking that as a yes so why did you pull away from her?”

“I told you she told me some stuff and I realized that we would never work.”

“Why did you realize this?”

“Because it’s impossible for someone like her to have feelings for me.”

Ginny looked at her like she was a daft fool.

“You idiot! She definitely has feelings for you. She was looking at you the whole time during breakfast and she lashed out only at people that looked like you.”

Hermione sat quietly staring at the lake before bursting into tears.

“But she’s such a horrible person.”

“Why do you think that?” asked Ginny, pulling Hermione into her arms.

“Because of everything she’s done.”

“If everything we’ve done defines a person then I would be branded a traitor and a killer for opening the chamber of secrets.”

“But you’ve not, you are a good person.”

Ginny just looked at Hermione pointedly. Hermione realized that the woman she saw in the memories wasn’t remotely similar to the woman Hermione had grown to care for. Hermione realized that the woman she had grown feelings for was just Bellatrix with a different face. Hermione realized that she was wrong about Bellatrix and quickly wiped off her tears. Hermione thanked Ginny for making her see the truth and got to her feet and ran to Bellatrix.

\------------------------------------------------

Hermione burst into Bellatrix’s office scaring her and causing Bellatrix to pull out her wand. 

“Hermione,”choked out Bellatrix brokenly. Putting down her wand she looked at Hermione.

“What do you want from me?” said Bellatrix putting up a facade of anger. Bellatrix looked down at her papers and began angrily grading. 

“I want to apologize,” Bellatrix looked up from her papers confused, “I realized that you are the same person I’ve grown feelings for. I realized that if you were the same person you were back then you would have taken one look at me and hexed me on the spot. So, I’m sorry for pull-no running away because I was scared. I’m not scared anymore and I want to give us a chance.”

Bellatrix slipped into a stunned silence and looked at Hermione in shock before saying,“I want to give us a chance too. I’m going to give you one warning right now. I’m not an easy person to be with. I have a lot of issues, I’m a very jealous person and I don’t like it when people touch what’s mine.”

Hermione looked at her processing what Bellatrix just said and confidently said,“I don’t care, I just want you.”

Bellatrix looked at her like she was the sun and walked slowly towards her. When Bellatrix reached Hermione she said,“I’m going to kiss you say something if you don’t want me to.”

Bellatrix gave Hermione a minute to respond and then began to lean in.

“Wait!”

Bellatrix pulled back confused.

“Can you take off your glamour? I want to see the real you.”

Bellatrix just smiled and released the glamour. Hermione’s eyes trailed over her body appraisingly. Bellatrix leaned in and kissed Hermione softly with her blood red lips. Hermione thought that nothing would top their first kiss but she was definitely wrong. Hermione felt as if her body was on fire. Hermione slid one of her hands into Bellatrix’s hair grabbing long dark curls and the other hand began to grope at Bellatrix’s bum. Bellatrix had locked both of her hands in Hermione’s hair and moaned loudly when Hermione groped her. Bellatrix nibbled Hermione’s bottom lip before sliding her tongue into Hermione’s mouth. 

The kiss broke and Bellatrix and Hermione stood panting. Bellatrix was holding Hermione in a gentle embrace and the duo sat down in the chairs and began to talk about everything and anything.

“Bellatrix?”

“Call me Bella.”

“Okay. Bella?”

“Yes.”

“What was in the letter that day that made you freak out?”

Bella winced,“I had hoped no one saw that. The letter was written to me from my sister informing me that the Dark Lord had decided to take up residence at her Manor. She only knows I’m here because I told her.”   
  


“Does that put her in danger?”

“Yes, but it's all sorted out now.”

The two ventured into topics easier to talk about such as the fact that Bellatrix had never had ice cream before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like usual comments and questions are encouraged!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this chapter early since I don't know if I'll be able to post tomorrow. Enjoy!
> 
> Edit: One of my readers brought it to my attention that the ending was a bit abrupt so I changed the ending and added some more to the chapter

The DADA classroom had no desks and in the middle of the classroom stood a platform raised 5 feet up above the floor of the class. Mulligan and Flitwick stood in the center of the platform.

“Welcome to our last Defence Against the Dark Arts class!”

The class all made noises of sadness, but gave Mulligan all of their attention. 

“Since this is our last class we will be dueling today!”

Yells and shouts of joy were heard throughout the classroom. Hermione and Harry looked at each other with excitement written across their faces.

“To start us off with a demo I will be dueling Flitwick. After I win the duel I will pair each of you up and we will do this tournament style and the winner of you students will face me.”

When Thaila said that she was going to win Flitwick looked amused. Flitwick jumped into action when Thalia finished her speech moving to stand in the middle of the platform. They turned around and walked twenty paces before turning around to shoot their first spells.

“ _Portego_!” shouted Mulligan.

“ _Petrificus Totalus_!”

Flitwick’s spell was blocked and Mulligan stayed on the defensive. Flitwick began to attack more and more aggressively. Mulligan blocked or dodged everyone of his spells. After about ten minutes of Flitwick attacking Mulligan he began to tire. Mulligan saw this and immediately went to attack Flitwick. Flitwick began to retreat backwards on the platform. Mulligan saw her opportunity when Flitwick reached the end of the platform.

“ _Locomotor Mortis_!”

Flitwick’s legs locked and he was no longer able to move. Mulligan laughed at the bewildered look on his face and cast her final spell.

“ _Levicorpus_!”

Flitwick went flying up into the air dangling by one foot. His wand clattered to the floor and rolled until it hit Thalia’s boot.

“And that students is how it’s done.”

The class broke out cheering for Thalia as she helped Flitwick back down to the ground and handed him his wand back. 

Thalia began to call the groups of students forward. Hermione was paired with Goyle first and she beat him easily, launching him off the platform. She then was paired with Neville again winning. Then she was paired with Pansy who she beat as well. She was then paired with Malfoy who she also beat. He stormed off muttering under his breath about how mudbloods were despicable creatures. Thalia heard him and shot him with the _Furnunculus_ jinx causing him to break out with huge pimples. Malfoy ran out of the classroom yelling about how his father would hear about the incident as Thalia simply laughed at his threat.

Finally Hermione was paired with Harry. They dueled for a long time neither wanting to give up until Harry made a mistake and lost his footing trying to block a spell Hermione sent at him. Hermione quickly disarmed him and was declared the winner. Hermione walked over to Harry and helped him up off the ground and handed him his wand back.

“It looks like we have our winner. Take a five minute break and then we will duel,” Mulligan said the last part directed at Hermione.

Hermione took her break and drank some water before reviewing all the spells that she knew.

“Ms. Granger if you would please join me.”

Hermione lept up onto the platform to join Thalia. The two stood back to back Thalia standing almost a full head taller than Hermione. They then took twenty paces before turning around. This time Thalia went on the offensive and Hermione went on the defensive. They switched from offense to defence and defence to offense periodically. Neither gaining or losing ground. After about twenty minutes of an even duel Thalia began to retreat. The class began to shout encouragement and yelled at Hermione to beat Mulligan. Once Thaila was about four feet from the end of the platform and it looked like Hermione was going to end the duel Thalia lashed out sending spell after spell at Hermione. Hermione began to retreat trying to block all the spells. When she was distracted by the spells Thalia cast Thalia shot a spell at Hermione’s feet silently and the spell sent Hermione flying backwards into the wall which thankfully was soft thanks to the cushioning charm used on the walls.

The class began to cheer and yell their excitement. Thalia walked over to Hermione and helped her up off the floor whispering in her ear,“Talk to me after class.” Thalia handed Hermione back her wand and congratulated her on a good duel. Thalia dismissed the class to talk for the rest of the period.

\----------------------------------------

The class filed out the door as Hermione pretended to need to ask Thalia a question.

Hermione walked up to Bella pecking her on the lips before asking. 

“What did you want to talk about Bella?”

“The upcoming task is not safe for Harry. You can’t tell anyone even Harry what I’m about to tell you. Do you understand?”

“Why can’t I tell Harry if it involves him?”

“The Dark Lord has a direct link into his mind and can look into Harry’s mind and if He finds out that I told you He will kill me.”

Hermione looked afraid for Bella but nodded her head. 

“The final task is a maze and in the center of the maze is the cup which will then take the champion who first touches the cup to the victors ring. He made me mess with the portkey to send the victor to him. He then made me rig the tournament to make sure Harry wins.”

“Okay so what do you want me to do?”

“I need you to prepare Harry for the maze and teach him how to duel properly.”

“That I can do.”

Hermione left the classroom in high spirits after stealing a couple more kisses from Bella.

\-------------------------------

The next morning Hermione and Harry walked out of the common room together. Hermione had planned on dueling Harry some more, but what he told her halted her plans for the day.

“I had a dream it was so vivid. Voldemort was sitting in a chair talking to Wormtail about me. I don’t know why they were talking about me, but then Voldemort started to tourture Wormtail for failing him.”

“And?” pressed Hermione.

“That was it the dream ended.”

Hermione sat in silence mulling over the dream. 

“Harry I think you should talk to Dumbledore about this.”

“Yeah you’re probably right. I’ll go to his office now.”

Harry got up and quickly walked away. Hermione leaned back against the tree behind her and began to fiddle with the grass. Hermione heard footsteps behind her and she turned to look at who it was. 

“Hermy-own I know you don’t want to talk to me but I want to apologize for my actions. I was way out of hand and I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“It’s okay Viktor I sorta overreacted and I could have handled that better.”

“Can I sit here?”said Viktor gesturing to the patch of grass next to Hermione. 

Hermione nodded and the two of them continued their previous conversation about magical creatures and Viktor even got Hermione to talk about quidditch.

As the two got into a heated debate about how quidditch is in Hermione’s opinion a sport way too dangerous to be played they lost track of time and before they knew it the sun had set and they missed dinner. They realized that they needed to get back to their dorms immediately or they might be punished for breaking curfew.

“May I escort you to the castle Hermy-own?” asked Viktor.

“Viktor I can make it back to the castle on my own and you need to get to your dorms before me.”

Viktor nodded understanding that he should get back to his dorms but before he left to get back to the ship he bid Hermione good night. Hermione quickly bid Viktor good night before running towards the castle desperate not to be caught by Filch.

Hermione raced through the corridors as quietly as she could in order not to be heard by Filch. She ran up the stairs leading to the fat lady’s portrait. 

“Password?”

“Exploding Snap.”

The portrait swung open revealing the common room. Hermione stepped in and shut the portrait not a moment too soon. She could hear Filch yelling outside of the portrait demanding to be let in. Hermione breathed out a sigh of relief and walked up to her dorm. She changed into her pj’s and laid in bed waiting for sleep to take her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm assuming you guys already know what I'm going to say, but ima say it anyway! Comments and questions are ecouraged!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright I'm back with the next chapter!
> 
> Edit: I’ve patched up some issues with this chapter

With Hermione instructing him, Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione’s that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze. He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter-jinx. After practicing for a couple of days Hermione believed that Harry was ready for the maze and anything that may happen in the maze.

\-----------------------------------------------

The next morning Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron sat at the table eating their breakfast. They were talking about their final tests of the year when McGonagall approached the group of friends.

“Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast,” she said. 

“But the task’s not till tonight!” said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time. 

“I’m aware of that, Potter,” she said. “The champions’ families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them.” She moved away. 

Harry gaped after her. “She doesn’t expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?” he asked Hermione blankly. 

“I don’t know Harry,”she said concerned. 

Hermione watched Harry walk across the room slowly looking like he would rather be anywhere else other than in that room. Hermione realized what time it was and sprinted off to her last test of the year.

\-------------------------------------------

  
  


“Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each — Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!” The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. “In second place, with eighty points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!” More applause. “And in third place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!”

Hermione, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill all applauded politely for all the champions. Hermione saw Harry wave excitedly at the group and Hermione waved back ignoring the sense of dread building in her stomach.

“So . . . on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!” said Bagman. “Three — two — one —” 

He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze. Hermione watched Harry disappear into the maze from the stands. 

“On my whistle, Viktor!”

The shrill sound of the whistle echoed for the second time.

“Finally, Ms. Delcour you may enter the maze on my whistle!”

The whistle sounded one last time as Fleur disappeared into the maze. Hermione watched Harry split up from Cedric and take the left fork. Hermione saw Harry use the Four-Point Spell and head in the correct direction. Cedric ran into Harry trying to escape from Hagrid’s blast-ended skrewts.

Then, as Harry turned a corner, he saw . . . a dementor gliding toward him. Hermione held her breath in fear for Harry. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Harry raised his wand, and cried, “Expecto Patronum!” A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry’s wand and galloped toward the dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes. . . . Harry had never seen a dementor stumble. “Hang on!” he shouted, advancing in the wake of his silver Patronus. “You’re a boggart! Riddikulus!” There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. Hermione let out the air she was holding and took a deep breath to calm herself.

“What are you doing?” yelled Cedric’s voice. “What the hell d’you think you’re doing?” 

And then Hermione heard Krum’s voice. “Crucio!” 

The air was suddenly full of Cedric’s yells. Hermione was horrified that Viktor would do such a thing and her mouth fell open in shock. The Hogwarts staff began frantically attempting to apparate into the maze, but their attempts were fruitless as an anti-apparition spell was in place. Harry began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Cedric’s. When none appeared, he tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn’t very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, � tearing his robes, and looking to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him. Harry pulled himself up and pointed his wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run.

“Stupefy!” Harry yelled. 

The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass. Harry dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face.

“Are you all right?” Harry said roughly, grabbing Cedric’s arm. 

“Yeah,” panted Cedric. “Yeah . . . I don’t believe it . . . he crept up behind me. . . . I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me. . . .” Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Harry looked down at Krum. “I can’t believe this . . . I thought he was all right,” 

Harry said, staring at Krum. “So did I,” said Cedric. “Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?” said Harry. 

“Yeah,” said Cedric. “You don’t think Krum got her too?” 

“I don’t know,” said Harry slowly.

“Should we leave him here?” Cedric muttered. 

“No,” said Harry. “I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone’ll come and collect him . . . otherwise he’ll probably be eaten by a skrewt.” 

“He’d deserve it,” Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay. 

Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. 

“Point Me!” he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around� and pointed him to the right-hand one. 

He dashed up this one and saw light ahead. The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of him. Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Harry knew he would never catch up, Cedric was much taller, had much longer legs — Then Harry saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it — 

“Cedric!” Harry bellowed. “On your left!” 

Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Harry saw Cedric’s wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Cedric.

“Stupefy!” Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider’s gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead. “Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!” But it was no use — the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Harry had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon him. He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the pincers and next moment he was yelling in excruciating pain. Cedric yelled “Stupefy!” too, but his spell had no more effect than Harry’s — Harry raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted “Expelliarmus!” 

It worked — the Disarming Spell made the spider drop him, but that meant that Harry fell twelve feet onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him. Hermione winced at the cracking sound his leg had made. Without pausing, he aimed high at the spider’s underbelly, as he had done with the skrewt, and shouted “Stupefy!” just as Cedric yelled the same thing. The two spells combined did what one alone had not: The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs. 

“Harry!” he heard Cedric shouting. “You all right? Did it fall on you?” 

“No,” Harry called back, panting. He looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. He could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider’s pincers on his torn robes. He tried to get up, but his leg was shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around. 

Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him. “Take it, then,” Harry panted to Cedric. “Go on, take it. You’re there.” But Cedric didn’t move. He merely stood there, looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. 

“You take it. You should win. That’s twice you’ve saved my neck in here.” 

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work,” Harry said. “The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That’s you. I’m telling you, I’m not going to win any races on this leg.”

“No,” he said.

“Stop being noble,” said Harry irritably. “Just take it, then we can get out of here.” 

“You told me about the dragons,” Cedric said. “I would’ve gone down in the first task if you hadn’t told me what was coming.” 

“I had help on that too,” Harry snapped, trying to mop up his bloody leg with his robes. “You helped me with the egg — we’re square.”

“I had help on the egg in the first place,” said Cedric.

“We’re still square,” said Harry, testing his leg gingerly; it shook violently as he put weight on it; he had sprained his ankle when the spider had dropped him. 

“You should’ve got more points on the second task,” said Cedric mulishly. “You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should’ve done that.” 

“I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!” said Harry bitterly. “Just take the cup!” 

“No,” said Cedric. 

“Go on,” Cedric said, walking over to Harry.

“Both of us,” Harry said.

“What?”

“We’ll take it at the same time. It’s still a Hogwarts victory. We’ll tie for it.” 

Cedric stared at Harry.

“You — you sure?” 

“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah . . . we’ve helped each other out, haven’t we? We both got here. Let’s just take it together.”

For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn’t believe his ears; then his face split in a grin. 

“You’re on,” he said. “Come here.” He grabbed Harry’s arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup’s gleaming handles.

“On three, right?” said Harry. “One — two — three —” He and Cedric both grasped a handle.

Disappearing from the arena.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed. Please leave me any questions or comments you may have!


	14. Chapter 14

Hermione ran through the crowd, the Weasleys yelling after her before giving up and continuing to watch. Bella was waiting for her at the outskirts of school grounds in a new disguise of a random witch Bella had seen before. When Hermione finally made it to Bella, Bella grabbed Hermione’s hand and they ran off school grounds so that Bella could apparate them to Harry and Cedric.

Hermione felt a sickening tug of apparition and gripped Bella’s hand tighter. Once they had arrived at the graveyard they heard a voice yell, “B-blood of the enemy . . . forcibly taken . . . you will . . . resurrect your foe.” 

Bella muttered,“Shit we are too late.”

Hermione looked at Bella worried about what was to come. Bella just grabbed Hermione’s elbow and pulled her closer to where the voice was coming from. They looked into the graveyard to see Cedric laying on the ground, dead, Harry being held by a statue and Wormtail slicing open Harry’s arm. Hermione made a strangled noise and moved to help Harry, but Bella grabbed her and pulled her back.

Wormtail staggered back to the cauldron with Harry’s blood. He poured it inside. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, done with his job, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.

The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened. . . . 

And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Hermione and Bella, so that they couldn’t see Wormtail or Harry or anything but vapor hanging in the air. . . .

But then, through the mist in front of Harry, they saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron. “Robe me,” said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one-handed over his master’s head. Bella upon seeing the robed man turned a deathly pale color like all the blood had been sucked out of her face.

The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake’s with slits for nostrils . . . 

Lord Voldemort had risen again. 

\-------------------------------------

Voldemort looked away from Harry and began examining his own body. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cat’s, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness. He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the great snake, which had slithered back into sight and was circling Harry again, hissing. Voldemort slipped one of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and drew out a wand. He caressed it gently too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where Harry was tied; he fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying. Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh. 

Wormtail’s robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them. 

“My Lord . . .” he choked, “my Lord . . . you promised . . . you did promise . . .” 

“Hold out your arm,” said Voldemort lazily. 

“Oh Master . . . thank you, Master . . .” He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again. 

“The other arm, Wormtail.” “Master, please . . . please . . .” 

Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail’s left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail’s robes up past his elbow, and Hermione saw something upon the skin there, something like a vivid red tattoo — a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth — the image that had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail’s uncontrollable weeping. “It is back,” he said softly, “they will all have noticed it . . . and now, we shall see . . . now we shall know . . .” He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail’s arm. Wormtail let out a fresh howl; Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail’s mark, and Hermione saw that it had turned jet black. A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard. “How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?” he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. “And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?” 

Bella fell over cradling her arm, her mouth open in a silent scream. Hermione reached out to Bella and frantically began to whisper Bella’s name.

“Bella? Bella please you’re scaring me.”

Bellatrix quickly snapped out of the pain she felt and answered Hermione.

“I’m fine we need to get Harry out of here.”

The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward . . . slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes. Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort, and kissed the hem of his black robes. 

“Master . . . Master . . .” he murmured. 

The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle’s grave, Harry, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail. Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people. Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind, a rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered. 

“Welcome, Death Eaters,” said Voldemort quietly. “Thirteen years . . . thirteen years since we last met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday. . . . We are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?” 

He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening.

“I smell guilt,” he said. “There is a stench of guilt upon the air.”

A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare, to step back from him. 

“I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact — such prompt appearances! — and I ask myself . . . why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?” 

“And I answer myself,” whispered Voldemort, “they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment. . . . “And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living? “And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort . . . perhaps they now pay allegiance to another . . . perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?” 

The circle of Death eaters had gone deathly silent, no one uttering a word or even a whisper.

“It is a disappointment to me . . . I confess myself disappointed. . . .” One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort’s feet. 

“Master!” he shrieked, “Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!” 

Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand. “Crucio!” The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked. Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping. “Get up, Avery,” said Voldemort softly. “Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years . . . I want thirteen years’ repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?”

“You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, Master,” moaned Wormtail, “please, Master . . . please . . .” 

“Yet you helped return me to my body,” said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. “Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me . . . and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers. . . .” 

Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand’s wake. Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtail’s bleeding wrist. Wormtail’s sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder.

“My Lord,” he whispered. “Master . . . it is beautiful . . . thank you . . . thank you. . . .” He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort’s robes. 

“May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail,” said Voldemort. 

“No, my Lord . . . never, my Lord . . .” 

Hermione watched with a sense of dread and fear. Bella watched in the same manner.

“And here we have six missing Death Eaters . . . three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return . . . he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever . . . he will be killed, of course . . . and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service.” 

The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks. 

“She is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through her efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight. . . . 

As Voldemort kept droning on and on about how he returned and how he was stronger than ever, Hermione and Bella snuck closer to the ring of death eaters. They had stopped listening to what he was saying and only began to listen again when he mentioned Bella again.

“Why . . . by using Bertha Jorkins’s information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the boy’s name was entered into the Goblet of Fire. Use my Death Eater to ensure that the boy won the tournament — that he touched the Triwizard Cup first — the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore’s help and protection, and into my waiting arms. And here he is . . . the boy you all believed had been my downfall. . . .” Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand. 

“ _ Crucio _ !” 

Harry began to thrash and roll on the floor yelling out in pain and agony. 

“You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me,” said Voldemort. “But I want there to be no mistake in anybody’s mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini,” he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching. 

“Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand.” 

Hermione and Bella launched forward into action once Harry was released and given his wand back. They disarmed and immobilized every death eater near them. Shouts and yells of confusion and outrage were heard all around the two. Harry quickly joined the two in taking out as many death eaters as they could. Death eaters began to apparate out not wanting to be a part of the battle.

Voldemort yelled his outrage and began to fire spells at the trio. Bella yelled at Harry and Hermione.

“Get to the trophy, it'll take you back!”

“Not without you!” screamed Hermione.

“You must if you wish to leave.”

“I can’t lose you!”

“You must Hermione!”

Hermione made up her mind. She wasn’t just going to stand by and let Bella be killed by the mad man standing in front of them. Hermione cast the strongest stunning spell she knew at the man hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying. Hermione grabbed Bella’s arm and dragged her over to the portkey; the trio grabbed the trophy at the same time holding Cedric’s body.

They reappeared in front of the huge crowd. The crowd went wild cheering and screaming at the reappearance of the two champions. Hermione dragged Bella away from the crowd and together they walked to Bella’s office.

\----------------------------

Upon arriving in Bella’s office Hermione broke down crying. Bella instantly swept up the broken girl in her arms.

“I could have lost you!” cried out Hermione completely distraught. 

“But I’m right here Pet. I’m safe. You saved me.”

“But you were going to die for me.”

Bella just sighed and pulled Hermione closer to her and kissed her temple. 

“I’m okay Pet. You're okay. We are okay and that’s all that matters.”

Hermione broke down sobbing tears of fear and relief in Bella’s arms. Bella simply rocked Hermione and kissed her forehead until the tears slowed and Hermione fell asleep from exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and questions are encouraged!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay life got pretty crazy the past few days! I probably won't post as often since I have school coming up next week :( But for now I hope you enjoy the next chapter! Please feel free to correct me on any and all mistakes I've made!

After the third task people were heartbroken over the fact that Cedric died Cho was sobbing as she knelt over Cedric’s body. Harry looked for the hidden Death Eater in the castle but he couldn’t figure it out as every time he thought he figured it out he was proven wrong. Hermione and Bella’s relationship flourished and they spent every moment they could with each other until Hermione had to return home for the summer. When Hermione left Bella promised to owl her the moment she got home. Once the school year ended and all the students went home Bella had no choice but to return to the Dark Lord. 

\---------------------------------------

Bella stood in the middle of a room in her sister’s manor staring at the wall. Voldemort began to circle Bellatrix as he spoke.

“You failed me Bella,”hissed the snake like man. “Do you know what happens to people who fail me?”

“I’m sorry my Lord. I’ll do better next time, I won’t fail you.”

“An apology won’t stop your punishment. You let Potter, his mudblood friend, and some random witch get away. If I didn’t know any better I would say you let them go.”

“Of course not my Lord. I would never fail you on purpose.”

The pale man hummed in approval of the answer as he turned to look into the fireplace. 

“Who is the witch that was with the mudblood and Potter?”

“I don’t know my Lord,”Bella answered his question staring at the floor.

Bella heard the swish of his wand and tensed her body up in anticipation for what was to come.

“ _ Crucio _ !”

Bella fell to the ground writhing in pain but refusing to make a sound. The spell upped in intensity and Bellatrix began to whimper in pain.

“I hope you know my dear Bella that I take no pleasure in punishing you.”

Bella couldn’t respond to him as her back arched and her face scrunched up in agony. Voldemort shot multiple slicing curses on Bella finally causing her to scream out. Bella felt a crack of her ribs and more blinding pain shot through her torso. Bella felt one more crack in her leg sending another burst of pain through her body.

Then the pain stopped and Voldemort said one last thing before sweeping out of the room.

“Do not fail me again.”

Bella laid on the ground waiting for the spasms to stop before shakily getting to her feet and limping out to the garden holding her head high not wanting to seem weak to the other death eaters. 

“Bella what happened to you?” asked Cissy, concern evident in her face.

“What do you think Cissy?”

Narcissa looked taken aback by Bella’s tone, but said,“Bella I can heal you. Come with me.”

“No.”

“Why not Bella?”asked Narcissa exasperated.

“Because he will punish you for helping me.”

“He doesn’t have to know.”

“I will not put you in any unnecessary danger Narcissa.”

Narcissa fed up with Bella practically yelled at her,“Bella, why didn’t you tell me you got out from Azkaban? I had to find out from Lucius!”

“It would have compromised my position if anyone found out that I was contacting the wife of a Death Eater and the sister of an escaped Death Eater.”

“You couldn’t have even showed up at my house once?!”

“I’m sorry Cissa that you found out from your pathetic excuse of a husband-”

“Bella!”

“-but that is the way things had to be. If I had it my way I would have contacted you the moment I got out.”

“Why couldn’t you have contacted me before you were sent to Hogwarts?”

“The Dark Lord ordered it so.”

“I accept your apology, Bella. I’m still mad at you for hexing my son.”

“I understand, but in my defence he deserved it.”

Narcissa raised an eyebrow in warning. Bella turned away from Narcissa and walked to the apparition point. Narcissa still looked pained at not being able to help Bella, but let her go. Bella turned on her heel and apperated away from the manor.

\-----------------------------------

Upon arriving home Bella grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote to Hermione. Once she finished writing she attached the letter to her black eagle owl and sent it off. Bella stumbled into her bedroom and drank a potion for pain like a shot, before collapsing on her bed passed out from the pain.

\---------------------------------

Hermione was sitting in the Order’s Headquarters reading ‘ _ Hogwarts a History _ ’ when she heard a shout coming from downstairs.

“Hermione! There’s an owl for you!”

Hermione slammed her book shut; she normally would have closed the book gently, but she was in a rush to get to the owl. Hermione raced down the stairs to find Mr. Weasley sitting next to an intimidating looking owl. Mr. Weasley looked like he had been bitten trying to take the letter off the owl’s leg.

Hermione walked over to the owl and the owl hopped up on her shoulder. Hermione thanked Mr. Weasley for letting her know about the owl and walked up the stairs quickly with the owl.

Quickly sitting down at her desk she pulled the letter off the owl’s leg and began to read.

‘ _ Hermione- _

_ I know I said I was going to write to you sooner but I ran into some problems with the Dark Lord. He was not happy that Harry escaped and took it upon himself to teach me a lesson. I’m not just writing to you to let you know about what happened to me. I need you to get Dumbledore to talk to me. I want to join the order, but I need Dumbledore to let me in. Owl me what he says. _

_ -Bella _

_ P.S. The owl’s name is Nyx and she might bite your fingers if you don’t feed her’ _

Hermione looked at the owl and said to her,“Well Nyx it looks like you may be stuck with me for a bit.”

Hermione heard a racket coming from downstairs and went to go check it out.

“Sir!”Hermione exclaimed in shock upon seeing Dumbledore.

“Ah Hermione! How have you been?”

“Good, how about you?”

“Just lovely!”

“Sir I actually wanted to talk to you about something privately.”

“Lead the way Ms. Granger.”

Hermione walked to the backyard of the house and Dumbledore conjured chairs for them to sit in while they talked.

“Lemon drop?”

“No thank you.”

“Alright,” said Dumbledore popping a lemon drop into his mouth,“What did you wish to speak to me about?”

“Someone I know wants to join the Order and wants to meet with you.”

“Ah may I ask who this person is?”

Hermione looked around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation,“Bellatrix Black.”

Dumbledore paused for a moment stroking his beard thoughtfully before answering Hermione.

“I must say I’m surprised that she would betray Voldemort, but the more the merrier!” Dumbledore said cheerfully.

Hermione was taken aback by the cheeriness in his tone, but quickly got over it telling herself that he was a strange old man.

“When will you meet with her?”

“Myself and Minerva will meet with her in the shrieking shack at midnight tonight.”

“May I join sir?”

“If you feel so inclined.”

“Thank you sir!”

“Of course Ms. Granger.”

Hermione walked back into the house and into her room as she wrote her response to Bella. Tying her response on the owl’s leg she opened the window and the owl flew out. Hermione sat and watched the owl until it became nothing more than a speck in the distance.

Hermione heard Mrs. Weasley yell from downstairs,“Harry! Everyone come say hi to Harry!”

Hermione rushed downstairs to greet Harry excited for what tonight was to bring.

\---------------------------------------------

Dumbledore stood at the front door of Grimuald place waiting for Hermione as she swung the door open.

“Good evening Ms. Granger.”

“Good evening to you sir.”

“Shall we?”asked Dumbledore, offering his arm. Hermione grabbed his arm without any hesitation and they apperated away.

The first thing Hermione noticed when they reappeared was that they were on school grounds.

“Sir, how did you apparate on school grounds?”asked Hermione with her eyebrows furrowed.

Dumbledore just smiled and winked at her before heading off to the whomping willow where McGonagall was waiting for them.

Hermione hurried after the wizard once she broke out of her thoughts, excited to see Bella again.

\---------------------------------------

When the group reached the main sitting room of the shrieking shack they saw a dark shape by the far wall. Dumbledore lit up the lamps in the room allowing the three newcomers to see the woman leaning against the far wall.

Bellatrix was a sight to behold. She leaned up against the wall covered in bruises that covered all her visible skin. Her leg stuck out at a strange angle. She had a black eye and looked as if she was having trouble breathing. Her eyes were slits, her mouth a scowl and the rest of her face was expressionless not wanting to show the Order members her pain.

Hermione looked at Bella in shock before running to her side, not caring what her Professors thought.

“Bella what happened to you?”asked Hermione in a hushed voice.

“Later,”came the hushed answer.

Hermione nodded in response grabbing Bella’s hand refusing to leave her side, even when McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the action. Dumbledore simply looked at the two women with a twinkle in his eye.

“Thank you for meeting me,”Bellatrix rasped out her voice hoarse from all the screaming she had done earlier.

“Bellatrix I’m just going to cut to the chase. Why do you want to meet with us?”said McGonagall in a no nonsense tone.

“Because I wish to join the Order. I’ve had enough of the Dar-Voldemort.”

Both Order members’ eyes widened in shock at hearing Voldemort’s right hand utter his name. Dumbledore and McGonagall shared a look before Dumbledore cast a spell around McGonagall and himself so that Hermione and Bella couldn’t hear them anymore. Hermione helped to support Bella’s weight as they moved over to a chair that looked somewhat sturdy. As Bella sat down in the chair Hermione knelt in front of her clasping one of Bella’s hands between her hands.

“What happened Bella?”

“He tortured me for letting you, Harry, and a ‘random’ witch get away.”

“What did he do to you?”

“He used the cruciatus curse to break some of my ribs and my leg and multiple slicing spells.”

Hermione gasped at the extent of pain Bella went through.

“Did you get treated?”

“No.” Bellatrix replied her teeth gritted in pain.

Hermione’s eyes narrowed and she looked like she was going to scold Bella when Dumbledore and McGonagall began to talk.

“We have come to the conclusion that we will admit you into the Order upon proving your loyalty. At the moment we do not trust you. I hope you can see why. We would also like to know how you met Ms. Granger here.” said McGonagall.

“I met Hermione when I was here at the school.”

“That’s impossible! You didn’t attend school with Ms. Granger!”exclaimed McGonagall.

“It’s not,”Bella said smiling devilishly,“ I just snuck into the school under your noses. I was in the school the entirety of the whole last year.”

Dumbledore upon piecing it together said,“Ah you were Thalia. I knew something was a bit off about her.”

McGonagall’s eyes widened and she looked like she was going to say something to Dumbledore when Bella cut her off.

“That is correct.”

Dumbledore having accepted this answer went on to question Bella about why she was defecting from Voldemort’s army. She just answered that someone made her see what she believed in was wrong and that she was on the wrong side of the war.

Dumbledore asked her to bring something to him to prove her loyalty to the Order by the end of the week before taking it upon himself to heal the dark haired woman. Dumbledore looked at the two witches with a knowing twinkle in his eye before telling Hermione that he would be waiting for her outside of the willow to take her back home. McGonagall was about to protest leaving her prized student with a deadly fugitive but Dumbledore placed his hand on her elbow and led her out of the shrieking shack. Once the Headmaster and Professor left, Hermione lept into Bella’s arms, thankful to see her after being apart for many weeks. Bella caught Hermione and swung her around in circles Hermione giggling the whole time.

Once Bella put Hermione down, Hermione pulled Bella’s head down into a soul searing kiss. Once the kiss broke Hermione slapped Bella across the face.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“That was for scaring the life out of me. I thought you were going to die!”

“I’m sorry Pet, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Hermione just pulled Bella back into another kiss this one longer and gentler.

“Tell me about your day.”

“Well I went to the Da-Voldemort and you know what happened then. When I was walking out I ran into my sister and then I went home owled you and fell asleep.”

“What did you and your sister talk about?”

“She was mad at me because she found out I got out of Azkaban from her idiotic husband.”

Hermione laughed at the last part of the sentence and they continued to make small talk before they had to go their separate ways.

“You had better owl me sooner Bella.”

“Of course Lo-Pet,” said Bella hastily, correcting her almost slip up.

Hermione, satisfied by the answer, pulled Bella into one last kiss before walking out of the shrieking shack.

“Shall we Ms. Granger?”asked Dumbledore offering his arm once more to the young witch.

Hermione grabbed his arm and they apperated away from the castle and back to Grimmuald place.

“Have a good night Ms. Granger,”said Dumbledore winking at her before appertating away presumably back to the castle.

Hermione turned around to open the door and step into the house. She quietly crept up the stairs not wanting to wake anyone or let anyone know she wasn’t in bed all night. She made it into the room she shared with Ginny and breathed out a sigh of relief. The light clicked on in the room immediately when Ginny saw her she was assaulted by questions.

“Ginny, it's too late for this. I'll answer any questions you have in the morning,”answered Hermione rubbing her eyes as she pulled on her pajamas. 

However Ginny didn’t like this answer and continued to assault Hermione with questions. Hermione crawled into her bed pulling the covers over her head ignoring Ginny until she gave up and went back to bed. Hermione smiled to herself and fell asleep dreaming about the next time she would see her dark haired witch again.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and questions are encouraged!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy!

Bella walked up to the huge entrance to Gringots. She stopped outside for a moment wondering if she was doing the right thing before shaking her head and stepping into the vault. She approached the goblin at the front desk with a sneer on her face. 

“I wish to enter my vault,”demanded Bella acting as snobby as she did all those years ago.

The goblin looked terrified and quickly squeaked in a shaky voice,“Of course Ms. Black. Please follow me.”

The goblin hopped off his stool and quickly walked over to the carts. They made their way down deep into the caverns using the winding track system. When they arrived at the vault Bellatrix gracefully jumped out of the cart and practically skipped to the door of her vault. Bella quickly unlocked the vault and walked in, the goblin made a move to follow her into her vault.

She bellowed at the goblin,“STAY OUT OF MY VAULT VERMIN!”

“Of course Ms. Black,” it squeaked.

She swiftly turned on her heel and walked further into the vault. She made her way to the Hufflepuff’s cup and slid it into her bag. Bella began to make her way to the exit before thinking twice about it and grabbing a couple books. On her way out of the vault she sneered at the goblin, said a couple of insults, and walked to the cart her head held high on the entire ride back. She stormed out of the bank swiftly appearing away from the bank. 

\-------------------------------

Dumbledore sat behind his desk in his office snacking on lemon drops and talking to Fawkes when he heard a commotion at the gargoyle. He got up from behind his desk and walked down to the gargoyle to see who was causing all the commotion.

“You bloody overgrown chicken! Open up! I need to talk to the old man!”

Dumbledore chuckled at the scene in front of him.

“Ah Bellatrix I see you still have the same temper from your school days.”

Bellatrix just ignored Dumbledore and said to him,“I have what you wanted.”

Upon hearing this Dumbledore ushered her up into his office.

“Lemon drop?”offered Dumbledore after sitting down at his desk. 

Bellatrix didn’t even acknowledge the offer and instead pulled the bag up into her lap. 

“May I see?”

Bellatrix pulled the cup out of the bag she had brought with her.

“Will this suffice to prove my loyalty?”

Dumbledore sat in a stunned silence before responding.

“Yes, I believe it will. We will have a meeting tonight to announce you joining us. Minerva, Hermione, and myself will be the only people who know who you actually are. You would attend the meetings as Thalia Mulligan since we want you to continue to spy on Voldemort for us. Do you understand?”

Bella nodded her consent and understanding of the plan. 

“Meet me in the shrieking shack at nine tonight. Don’t be late.”

Bellatrix walked out of the room not bothering to respond to Dumbledore.

\-----------------------------------

Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George all sat upstairs upset that they couldn’t be a part of the meeting.

“I should be down there. I was the one who saw him return with my own eyes!”

“So did I Harry,”Hermione responded tiredly.

“We should be down there!”

Before Hermione could respond the twins butted in.

“So we had an idea-”said Fred.

“That we could-”said George.

“Listen in with extendable ears!”finished Fred and George together.

The group quickly agreed, desperate to know what was going on downstairs. Fred lowered one of the ears down to the ground level and the group crowded around the other ear listening.

“-Dumbledore?”questioned Kingsley.

“You’re right where is he?”asked Tonks.

A ruckus was heard as the door swung open.

“I do hope you weren’t waiting long. I had to stop and show our newest member where the headquarters are,”said Dumbledore.

“New member!”exclaimed all of the order except McGonagall.

The door swung open once more.

“Hello everyone,”said Mulligan calmly.

When Ginny heard her voice she jerked her head up to look at Hermione. Hermione quickly shot Ginny a look that clearly meant I’ll talk to you later. The two brought their heads back in close to the ear.

Everyone greeted her in the same manner and they proceeded to talk about some death eaters that they were keeping tabs on.

“Anything new with Lucius?”asked Lupin.

“No,”responded Aurthur.

“What about Bellatrix?”asked Sirius.

“She won’t be a problem anymore Sirius. Minerva and myself handled the situation personally,”said Dumbledore.

“What do you mean you handled it?!”demanded Andromeda,“She may be evil but she is still my sister!”

“Andromeda we didn’t-”began Dumbledore before being interrupted. 

At this point Mulligan had interjected into the conversation.

“I would add more to this conversation, but it looks like we have some eavesdroppers.”

Mulligan swung open the door leading to the main hall to reveal an extendable ear, she then grabbed the ear and yanked it down. Looking up the stairwell she yelled.

“Next time if you’re going to eavesdrop I would suggest being a bit more clever about it!”

The group standing in the stairwell’s eyes widened in shock that they had been caught. They looked at each other with panicked looks. Before sprinting back into their rooms, Fred and George laughing the whole time.

\----------------------------------------------

Ginny immediately started to question Hermione the moment the door closed to their room.

“Did you know she joined? Did you know she was going to be here tonight? Where-”

“Ginny slow down! Ask your questions one at a time please.”

“Sorry I got excited. Did you know she joined the Order?”

“I knew she wanted to join but I didn’t know Dumbledore was going to let her in. In fact that’s where I was last night.”

“So that answers my next questions. You obviously didn’t know she was going to be here tonight and now I know what you were doing last night.”

Hermione nodded and asked Ginny,“Do you have any more questions?”

“Nope,”responded Ginny popping the p.

The two girls began to talk about the upcoming school year and how they needed to get their books and necessary materials from Diagon Alley tomorrow. Ginny had fallen asleep when Hermione heard a light knock on the door. Hermione got up wondering who would be knocking on her door this late. She opened the door and saw Thalia standing in front of her.

Thalia gave her a weak smile and said quietly,“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I was going to be here tonight.”

“It’s fine Bel-Thalia.” Thalia’s eyes widened at the slip up before relaxing when Hermione corrected herself.

“Still I’m sorry-”

“Thalia it’s fine. There is no need to apologize. Sorry to cut this short I need to go to bed now since I’m going to Diagon Alley tomorrow.”

Thalia looked a bit sad but agreed that she should be heading home as well. Thalia began to head back down the stairs wondering if Hermione was mad at her before hearing Hermione whisper shout her name. Thalia walked back to the room confused and looked like she was going to ask Hermione something when Hermione shushed her. Hermione looked around to make sure no one was watching before pulling Thalia into a quick but passionate kiss. Thalia pulled back flushed but turned on her heel and walked back down the stairs. Hermione watching Thalia leave until she was out of sight. When Hermione couldn’t see her anymore she turned around and walked back into her room to get some sleep in preparation for the busy days to come.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual comments and questions are encouraged!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it's been a long week! I actually forgot how much I hate school XD So this chapter is a little longer than before since I feel bad that I can't update as often. Like usual I hope you guys enjoy!

The ride to Hogwarts was an uneventful ride. The most exciting thing that happened was when Harry, Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Hermione played Exploding Snap. The group got off the train and walked over to the carriages. Hermione and the rest of the group walked over to the carriages. Harry stopped in front of the carriage and asked.

“What’s pulling the carriage?”

Hermione glanced over at the carriage and saw just like usual there was nothing there. Hermione looked at him confused and said,“Nothing Harry. It’s pulling itself like always.” The group jumped on the carriage eager to get back to the castle.

Harry looked at her like he was about to argue when Luna butted in,“Those are thestrals. You can only see them if you’ve seen someone die in front of you.”

A heavy silence settled in the carriage, no one speaking a word on the way to the castle.

\--------------------------------

The Gryffindor table was a madhouse. Fred and George were passing out their creations and causing quite the scene to erupt with students puking or having boils pop up all over their bodies. Hermione sat watching her housemates wondering when a teacher might seem it fit to intervene when Dumbledore began to speak.

“Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices,” said Dumbledore. “First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students — and a few of our older students ought to know by now too.” 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged smirks at the statement.

“Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch’s office door.”

“We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.” 

There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause for the new teachers.

Dumbledore continued, “Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the —” 

He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, “Hem, hem,” and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech. Hermione only then took notice of the woman completely clad in pink sitting in Bella’s seat.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout’s eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair, and Professor McGonagall’s mouth was as thin as Hermione had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts. 

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Professor Umbridge said in a high pitched voice, “for those kind words of welcome.” 

Hermione felt a powerful rush of dislike that she could not explain to herself; all she knew was that she loathed everything about her, from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan. She gave another little throat clearing cough (“Hem, hem”) and continued:

“Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!”

Most students were looking around at each other questionly and quite concerned for the woman’s sight as no one was looking at her happily.

“I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I’m sure we’ll be very good friends!” 

At this statement Hermione let out a loud snort that echoed around the hall as no one was speaking or even whispering. Every head in the hall turned to look at her. Hermione sat mortified that she had done such a thing when the twins yelled out,“ That’s likely!” Causing the Hall to burst out in laughter.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again (“Hem, hem”), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

“The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching.” 

Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back. Professor McGonagall’s dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Hermione distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little “Hem, hem” and went on with her speech. 

“Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress’s sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . .” 

Hermione had stopped listening as she was bored out of her mind. She however began to listen to the toad when she was finishing her speech.

“. . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.”

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again. 

“Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating,” he said, bowing to her. “Now — as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held . . .”

“Yes, it certainly was illuminating,” said Hermione in a low voice. 

“You’re telling me you enjoyed it!?!” Ginny said quietly, turning a glazed face upon Hermione. “That was about the dullest speech I’ve ever heard, and I grew up with Percy!” 

“I said illuminating, not enjoyable,” said Hermione. “It explained a lot.”

“Did it?” said Harry in surprise. “Sounded like a load of rubbish to me.” 

“There was some important stuff hidden in the rubbish,” said Hermione grimly. 

“Was there?” said Ron blankly. “How about ‘progress for progress’s sake must be discouraged’? How about ‘pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited’?” “Well, what does that mean?” said Ron impatiently. 

“I’ll tell you what it means,” said Hermione ominously. “It means the Ministry’s interfering at Hogwarts.” 

There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall. Hermione stood up and began to corral the first years up to the Gryffindor tower all the while thinking about what Umbridge being here might mean for the school year.

\----------------------------------

When they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom the next afternoon they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher’s desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Hermione was again reminded forcibly of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad. The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew yet how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be. 

“Well, good afternoon!” she said when finally the whole class had sat down. 

A few people mumbled “Good afternoon,” in reply.

“Tut, tut,” said Professor Umbridge. “That won’t do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply ‘Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.’ One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!” 

“Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge,” they chanted back at her.

“There, now,” said Professor Umbridge sweetly. “That wasn’t too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please.” 

Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order “wands away” had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting. Hermione placed her wand back inside her bag and pulled out quill, ink, and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once: 

Defense Against the Dark Arts: 

A Return to Basic Principles

“Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn’t it?” stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. “The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year. “You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please.” 

She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by: 

Course aims: 

1.Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic. 

2.Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used. 

3.Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use. 

For a couple of minutes the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge’s three course aims she said, “Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?” 

There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class. 

“I think we’ll try that again,” said Professor Umbridge. “When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply ‘Yes, Professor Umbridge,’ or ‘No, Professor Umbridge.’ So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?” 

“Yes, Professor Umbridge,” rang through the room.

“Good,” said Professor Umbridge. “I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, ‘Basics for Beginners.’ There will be no need to talk.” 

Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher’s desk, observing them all with those pouchy toad’s eyes. Hermione turned to page five of her copy of Defensive Magical Theory and started to read. 

About five pages in Hermione was already bored and couldn’t bring herself to read any more of the horrid book. She quickly raised her hand into the air after slamming her book closed. At the noise of her book slamming close the class turned to look at her, Harry and Ron stared at her shocked. Umbridge whirled around and stared at her.

“Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?” she asked Hermione in a what might have been a pleasant tone if it wasn’t for the look on her face.

“Not about the chapter, no,” said Hermione. 

“Well, we’re reading just now,” said Professor Umbridge, showing her small, pointed teeth. “If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class.” 

“I’ve got a query about your course aims,” said Hermione defiantly. 

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. “And your name is — ?” 

“Hermione Granger,” said Hermione. 

“Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully,” said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness. 

“Well, I don’t,” said Hermione bluntly. “There’s nothing written up there about using defensive spells.” 

“Using defensive spells?” Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. “Why, I can’t imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren’t expecting to be attacked during class?” 

“We’re not going to use magic?” objected Ron loudly. 

“Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr. — ?” 

“Weasley,” said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.

Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on him. Harry and Hermione immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge’s pouchy eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione. 

“Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?” 

“Yes,” said Hermione. “Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?” 

“Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?” asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely sweet voice. 

“No, but —” 

“Well then, I’m afraid you are not qualified to decide what the ‘whole point’ of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way —”

“What use is that?” said Harry loudly. “If we’re going to be attacked it won’t be in a —”

“Hand, Mr. Potter!” sang Professor Umbridge. 

Harry thrust his fist in the air. Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him again, but now several other people had their hands up too. 

“And your name is?” Professor Umbridge said to Dean. 

“Dean Thomas.” 

“Well, Mr. Thomas?” 

“Well, it’s like Harry said, isn’t it?” said Dean. “If we’re going to be attacked, it won’t be risk-free —” 

“I repeat,” said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, “do you expect to be attacked during my classes?” 

“No, but —” Professor Umbridge talked over him. 

“I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school,” she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, “but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible witches and wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed — not to mention,” she gave a nasty little laugh, “extremely dangerous half-breeds.” 

“If you mean Professor Lupin,” piped up Dean Thomas angrily, “he was one of the best we ever —” 

“Hand, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying — you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day —” 

“No we haven’t,” Hermione said, “we just —” 

“Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!” Hermione put up her hand; Professor Umbridge turned away from her. “It is my understanding that my predecessor showed all of you children unforgivables—” 

“Well, she turned out to be the best teacher we ever had!” said Hermione in defence of Bella. 

“Your hand is not up, Ms. Granger!” trilled Professor Umbridge. “Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?” she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up. 

“Parvati Patil, and isn’t there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren’t we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?” 

“As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions,” said Professor Umbridge dismissively. 

“Without ever practicing them before?” said Parvati incredulously. “Are you telling us that the first time we’ll get to do the spells will be during our exam?” 

“I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough —” 

“And what good’s theory going to be in the real world?” said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again. 

Professor Umbridge looked up. “This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world,” she said softly. 

“So we’re not supposed to be prepared for what’s waiting out there?” 

“There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter.” 

“Oh yeah?” said Harry, his anger visible to anyone who glanced at him.

“Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?” inquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.

“Hmm, let’s think . . .” said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice, “maybe Lord Voldemort?” 

Ron gasped; Lavender Brown uttered a little scream; Neville slipped sideways off his stool. Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face. 

“Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter.” The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or Harry. “Now, let me make a few things quite plain.” 

Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned toward them, her stubby fingered hands splayed on her desk. “You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead —” 

“He wasn’t dead,” said Harry angrily, “but yeah, he’s returned!” 

“Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-notmake-matters-worse-for-yourself,” said Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at him. “As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again.  _ This is a lie _ .” 

“It’s not a lie!” said Hermione in defence of Harry. “I believe Harry! Y-Voldemort is back!” 

“Detention, Ms. Granger!” said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. “Tomorrow evening. Five o’clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, ‘Basics for Beginners.’ ” 

Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk again. Harry, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at him; Seamus looked half scared, half-fascinated. 

“Harry, no!” Hermione whispered in a warning voice, tugging at his sleeve, but Harry jerked his arm out of her reach.

“So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?” Harry asked, his voice shaking. There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for none of them, apart from Ron and Hermione, had ever heard Harry talk about what had happened on the night that Cedric had died. 

They stared avidly from Harry to Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a fake smile on her face. “Cedric Diggory’s death was a tragic accident,” she said coldly. 

“It was murder,” said Harry. “Voldemort killed him, and you know it.”

“Detention, Mr. Potter!” said Professor Umbridge. “Tomorrow evening and the following day. Five o’clock. My office. I repeat again, this is a lie.”

Not wanting more detention then just the one evening with the toad, Harry and Hermione sat quietly for the rest of the period. When class was over the trio walked in silence to the Great Hall for dinner, two of the three dreading tomorrow evening, one of them terrified for detention by himself with the toad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go ahead and leave me any comments or questions you may have and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! I hope you guys enjoy!

The next night in the common room Hermione and Harry talked in hushed tones as they wondered what the nuisance in pink would make them do. 

“Do you think she’s going to make us serve detention in the Forbidden Forest?”

“I don’t think so Harry since that would mean she would have to go with us.”

“What do you think she’s going to make us do?”

“I don’t know Harry but we are about to find out,”said Hermione, looking a bit nervous.

Harry and Hermione slowly walked out of the common room and to their personal tourture for the night. They walked through the deserted corridors, their footsteps echoing loudly. When the two arrived at the classroom Harry went to knock at the door before hesitating and looking at Hermione for reassurance. Hermione nodded at him and he raised his hand knocking at the door.

“Come in!” greeted the shrill voice.

Harry opened the door and the two looked around the classroom in confusion as they couldn’t see their professor. Just as Hermione opened her mouth to call out for the professor, Umbridge yelled from her office for the two Gryffindors to come up into her office. When the two walked into the office they stopped in their tracks at the sight of the office. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolor kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. These were so foul that Harry and Hermione stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again.

“Good evening, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger.”

Hermione started and looked around. She had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her.

“Good evening,” greeted Hermione.

“Evening,” Harry said stiffly.

“Well, sit down,” she said, pointing toward a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up two straight-backed chairs. Two pieces of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for them. Hermione walked over, placed her bag down next to her chair, and sat down.

“Er,” said Harry, without moving. “Professor Umbridge? Er — before we start, I-I wanted to ask you a . . . a favor.”

Her bulging eyes narrowed. Hermione looked at him slightly panicked.

“Oh yes?”

“Well I’m . . . I’m on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o’clock tomorrow and I was — was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it — do it another night . . . instead . . .”

Harry’s face fell at the terrifying look on the pink toad’s face.

“Oh no,” said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she looked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. “Oh no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one’s convenience. No, you will come here at five o’clock tomorrow and you will do your detention as planned. I think it is rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you, Mr. Potter.”

Harry looked livid at being called an attention seeking liar and he opened his mouth about to object again when Hermione put her hand on his forearm. Hermione shot him a look that clearly said  _ ‘Do you really want more detention?’  _ before turning back to look at Umbridge with a look of anger on her face. 

She was watching them with her head slightly to one side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly what they were thinking and was waiting to see whether they would start shouting again. With a massive effort Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair, and sat down.

“There,” said Umbridge sweetly, “we’re getting better at controlling our temper already, aren’t we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger. No, not with your quills,” she added, as Hermione bent down to open her bag. “You’re going to be using rather special ones of mine. Here you are.”

She handed each a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.

“I want you to write ‘I must not tell lies,’ ” she told them softly.

“How many times?” Hermione asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.

“Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,” said Umbridge sweetly. “Off you go.”

She moved over to her desk, sat down, and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Hermione looked over at Harry as he raised the sharp black quill and then looked at it confused before realizing what was missing.

“You haven’t given me any ink,” he said a confused look on his face.

“Oh, you won’t need ink,” said Professor Umbridge with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.

Hermine placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must not tell lies. She let out a gasp of pain, Harry gasping not long after her. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Hermione’s right hand, cut into her skin as though traced there by a scalpel — yet even as she stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth. Hermione looked around at Umbridge. She was watching them, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile.

“Yes?”

“Nothing,” said Hermione quietly.

“Nevermind,” muttered Harry at the same time as Hermione.

She looked back at the parchment, placed the quill upon it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of her hand for a second time; once again the words had been cut into her skin, once again they healed over seconds later.

And on it went. Again and again Hermione and Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what she soon came to realize was not ink, but her own blood. And again and again the words were cut into the back of her hand, healed, and then reappeared the next time she set the quill to parchment.

Darkness fell outside Umbridge’s window. Hermione did not ask when she would be allowed to stop. She knew she was watching her for signs of weakness and she was not going to show any, not even if she had to sit here all night, cutting open her own hand with this quill.

“Come here,” she said, after what seemed hours.

She stood up as Harry followed close behind her. Her hand was stinging painfully. When she looked down at it she saw that the cut hadn’t healed, and that the skin there had the words ‘ _ I must not tell lies _ ’ carved into her skin. She looked over at Harry’s hand and saw that the back of his hand was raw, but no words were carved into his hand like her’s.

“Hand,” she said.

She extended it. The toad took it in her own. Hermione repressed a shudder as she touched her with her thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of ugly old rings.

“Good Ms. Granger the lesson seems to have sunk in,”she said smiling wickedly. “You may go Ms. Granger.”

Hermione walked over to her bag and swung it up on her shoulder after tucking her paper into it. When she looked over Umbridge had grabbed Harry’s hand in her own and was talking to him.

“It seems as though the lesson hasn’t sunk in for you Mr. Potter. I’ll see you tomorrow,” said the woman smirking with an evil glint in her eye.

The woman ushered the two students out of her office after examining Harry’s hand. The two of them walked back to the common room in a stunned silence. As neither of them thought that their detention would consist of actual tourture. 

The common room was deserted when they arrived back since everyone had gone to bed hours before. Hermione quietly bid Harry goodnight before stumbling up into her room. She pulled on her night clothes almost in a trance before getting into bed and pulling the covers up. She drifted off to sleep right after remembering that she was supposed to send Bella an owl about her first day of school.

———————————

The next afternoon news had spread around the school that Malfoy had gotten himself detention with Umbridge after calling her a toad and insulting her for wearing so much pink. Harry looked like he was dreading tonight even more since Malfoy was joining him.

“Harry it’ll be okay. It probably won’t be any different then last night with me,”said Hermione trying to reassure Harry.

“But Malfoy will be there,” groaned Harry.

“He won’t try anything Harry. At least not with Umbridge there.”

“I guess,” mumbled Harry.

Hermione looked up to see McGonagall walking out of the hall. She hurriedly told Harry that she would see him later and rushed to catch up to McGonagall. 

“Professor!”

McGonagall turned around and her emerald eyes locked on Hermione. 

“Ms. Granger what can I do for you?”

“Could we speak somewhere a bit more private?” asked Hermione watching Umbridge walk past them. 

McGonagall followed her eyes and immediately ushered Hermione to follow her. When they arrived in her office McGonagall sat down behind her desk and gestured for Hermione to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. 

“Now, what’s this all about Ms. Granger?”

“Well I had detention last night,” Hermione paused thinking over what she should say next. 

“Is that all Ms. Granger?”

“No, her method of punishment I believe is not appropriate.”

“What is this method of punishment?”

Hermione opened her mouth looking like she was about to answer before shutting her mouth and pulling up her sleeve. McGonagall’s eyes widened and she immediately grasped Hermione’s hand examining the wound. While examining her hand McGonagall began to mutter to herself. 

_ “A blood quill! How did she even get one in here?” _

“Professor? ”asked Hermione questioningly. 

“I’m glad you brought this to my attention. I will see that something is done about this.”

McGonagall paused pursing her lips while looking at the clock before pulling out a piece of parchment. 

“You have Herbology next correct?” asked McGonagall, not looking up from the parchment. 

“Yes.

McGonagall handed Hermione the paper before saying,“Give this to Professor Sprout. It will excuse you for being late.”

Hermione turned to walk out of the office before hearing McGonagall call her name. 

“Hermione, thank you again for bringing this to my attention. I promise you something will be done about it.”

“Of course. Thank you Professor!”

Hermione walked to Herbology smiling and in better spirits then she had been all day.

———————————

That night Hermione wrote a letter to Bella telling her about all the things that had been happening at the school. At the end of the letter she mentioned Harry, Draco, and herself having detention with Umbridge. She tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and watched the snowy owl fly off into the night. Hermione began her long walk back to the common room humming to herself. About halfway back to the common room she ran into Harry on his way back from detention. 

“Harry! How was detention?”

“It was okay. Malfoy didn’t try anything, actually he was being kind of nice...,” Harry trailed off looking confused.

“That’s good! How’s your hand?”

Harry didn’t answer her question and instead thrust his hand out in front of her. Hermione grabbed his hand and looked at it. The back of his hand had the phrase ‘ _ I will not tell lies _ ’ deeply engraved in the back of his hand.

“Oh Harry! This is horrible.”

Harry didn’t say anything and just grunted. He pulled his hand out of Hermione’s hands and began to walk faster back to the common room. Before Harry disappeared up the stairs Hermione, worried that she did something to upset him, called out to him.

“Harry, I'm sorry if I did something.”

“It’s not you Hermione,” said Harry tiredly.

Hermione nodded her head and walked to her dorm and crawled back in bed wishing for this week to be over.

————————————————-

Bellatrix sat in front of her fireplace relaxing after a long couple of days doing spy work with a glass of firewhiskey. Bellatrix was reading a book on muggle poetry hoping that she would impress Hermione when she wrote her next letter when she heard the rap of a beak on her window. 

She got out of her chair and rushed over to the window desperately hoping that the owl was from Hermione. Bella opened the window for a white owl with black speckles. The owl landed on her desk and offered her it’s leg with the letter tied onto it. Bella quickly untied the letter recognizing the owl as Potter’s. Hedwig flew out of the window after Bella took the letter presumably back to Hogwarts. Bella settled herself back in her chair taking a sip of her firewhiskey before beginning to read the letter.

_ Bella- _

_ I’m so sorry this is late. I would have sent this earlier, but things are a bit crazy here. The ministry is trying to meddle here at Hogwarts. They sent a woman named Umbridge here to teach DADA. That woman is horrible, always wearing pink and flowers and talking in such an annoying high voice! _

_ Harry and I got detention from the menace in pink. She only gave me one day but Harry got two days. Draco had detention with Harry on the last day. Her detention was horrible! She made Harry and I use blood quills! She made us write ‘I must not tell lies’ it’s now engraved in Harry and I’s hands. Draco had to write ‘I must respect my superiors’ I’m sure his parents will be thrilled. I thought you might want to find out from me and not someone else. _

_ On a better note McGonagall said that she would take care of Umbridge and try to stop her from using the quills. I’m not sure what's going to come from that, but I hope it’s something good. I’m sorry to cut this short, but I have to get back to my dorm now before Filch catches me.  _

_ I miss you. _

_ -Hermione _

Bella was livid when she read that Umbridge hurt Hermione. She drank the remainder of the alcohol left in her glass. Her fingers tightened around her glass as she brought the glass down to rest on her arm rest. In a fit of rage she threw the glass as hard as she could at the wall causing it to shatter and glass to fly everywhere in the room. Her chest heaved as she took deep breaths, her hand ran through her wild hair as a loud growl escaped from her mouth.

She marched over to her desk and grabbed two pieces of parchment and angrily began to write her first letter in fast, violent strokes. She then pulled out her wand and cast a spell on the letter before setting it aside to write her second letter. Bella wrote this letter in a calmer state of mind, her strokes on the parchment were gentle and slow and a gentle smile appeared on her face. She walked over to her owlery and tied the letter addressed to Hermione onto Nyx’s leg and tied the other letter onto her barnowl’s leg. She walked them over to the window and watched them go with a smirk on her face.

———————————

Hermione sat down at the table filling her plate with eggs and toast. She settled into an easy conversation with Ginny as an owl she quickly recognized as Nyx landed in front of her with a letter attached to her leg. She untied the letter and tucked it into her robes making sure to give Nyx some bacon before she flew away. She turned back to Ginny and opened her mouth to speak before whirling around hearing a familiar voice begin to screech. The Great Hall went silent, Neville looking as pale as a ghost. Bellatrix’s voice reached every corner of the hall, causing every person in the hall to pale a little in fear from the unbridled rage in her voice.

“DOLORES UMBRIDGE YOU DARE TOUCH WHAT’S  **MINE** ! YOU WILL  **PAY** ! NO HURTS WHAT'S MINE AND GETS AWAY WITH IT! ESPECIALLY NOT A FAT PINK COW! CONSIDER THIS YOUR WARNING. IF I EVER HEAR THAT YOU TOUCH WHAT'S MINE AGAIN…”

Her voice switched to a quiet baby voice that echoed through the hall sending shivers down everyone’s spines.

“ _ Someone may come over to  _ **_play_ ** _. _ ” 

Her voice suddenly switched to a solemn and serious voice.

“And I think we both know how that’s going to end.”

A loud cackle sounded in the hall causing almost all of the students to whimper or make some noise out of their fear. The letter tore itself up before going up in a large burst of flames causing Umbridge who looked like she was going to pass out to jump up from her seat and run away shrieking. No one laughed at Umbridge’s exit; in fact many students looked like they wanted to run out like Umbridge. 

Hermione had happiness bubbling up in her chest at Bella’s protectiveness and being called her’s, but outwardly she had schooled her features into a look of fear. She looked around at Harry, Ron, and Ginny and saw that all of them looked terrified and Ron looked like he was about to pee his pants. Hermione inwardly snorted at how Ron looked before her attention was drawn to the High table.

“Students!” announced Dumbledore. “I know that the howler was unexpected. But please know that Bellatrix cannot get into this school or anywhere on school grounds. You will be safe here. Now please enjoy the rest of your day, go to Hogsmeade, or play some quidditch. Please try to forget this incident.”

Once Dumbledore finished his impromptu speech Hermione looked at the teachers and saw that all of them had various forms of fear on their faces. Hermione was surprised to see that even Snape had an expression of fear on his face before he quickly changed his features into a sneer, as he had seen Hermione looking at him.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny stood up from the table and began to walk out of the Hall. Hermione, realizing she was being left behind leapt up from the table and shouted after the three of them.

“Hey wait up!”

——————————

The four of them walked out to the lake, three of them wanting to forget this morning and replace that memory with better ones as they made their way to Hogsmeade.

“Do ya reckon that she was talking about Malfoy?” asked Ron.

“Why would she be talking about Malfoy?” asked Harry.

“Because Malfoy’s mom is sisters with Bellatrix,” answered Ginny.

“Then probably who else would she be talking about?” said Harry.

Ginny quickly agreed, but Ginny noticed that Hermione hesitated with her mouth open looking like she was going to say something before nodding her head. Ginny just shook it off and thought to herself ‘ _ There’s no way she would know anything about Bellatrix. Right? _ ’ Before she could dive deeper into her thoughts she was pulled out of them when they reached Honeydukes. 

“Harry look , they have the new chocolate frogs!” Ron excitedly announced running towards the display.

Harry immediately followed Ron over to the frogs. Hermione and Ginny walked to the back of the store where the Fizzing Whizzbees and similar candies were kept. The four of them walked out of the store about an hour later, their arms loaded with sweets of all kinds and they walked over to The Three Broomsticks laughing the whole way. 

The four of them spent the whole day in Hogsmeade, they bought tons of joke products from Zonko's and Ron almost got sick as he ate too much candy. Hermione had a huge smile on her face and she felt as light as air and filled to the brim with happiness as she declared the day to herself as the best day of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like usual comments and questions are encouraged!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry you guys! School was crazy this week so this is the first time I've had the chance to update. Again I'm so sorry I hope this extra long chapter will make up for it.

The following days got worse and worse with Umbridge as she was relentless with spreading her lies about Voldemort being dead and handing out punishments to all who opposed her. Hermione had sent letters to Bella a bit distraught about what Bella would do when she found out about all the horrible things Umbridge was doing to Hermione and the others. Hermione became more terrified about what Bella would do when no howler came and Bella just sent a calmly worded letter to Hermione and nothing to Umbridge.

Hermione, Ginny, and Ron sat in the common room in front of the fireplace discussing what they should do about her. Harry walked into the common room and sat down next to the group and quietly began to listen.

“She’s an awful woman,” said Hermione in a quiet but passionate voice. “Awful. You know, I was just saying to Ron when you came in . . . we’ve got to do something about her.” 

“I suggested poison,” said Ginny grimly. 

“No . . . I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is, and how we’re not going to learn any defense from her at all,” said Hermione.

“Well, what can we do about that?” said Ron, yawning. “ ’S too late, isn’t it? She got the job, she’s here to stay, Fudge’ll make sure of that.” 

“Well,” started Hermione. “You know, I was thinking today. . . .” She shot a slightly nervous look at Harry and then plunged on, “I was thinking that — maybe the time’s come when we should just — just do it ourselves.” 

“Do what ourselves?” said Harry suspiciously, still floating his hand in the essence of murtlap tentacles. 

“Well — learn Defense Against the Dark Arts ourselves,” said Hermione. 

“Come off it,” groaned Ron. “You want us to do extra work? D’you realize Harry and I are behind on homework again and it’s only the second week?” 

“But this is much more important than homework!” said Hermione. 

Harry, Ron, and Ginny goggled at her. “I didn’t think there was anything in the universe more important than homework,” said Ron. 

“Don’t be silly, of course there is!” said Hermione, her face was suddenly alight with the kind of fervor that S.P.E.W. usually inspired by her. “It’s about preparing ourselves, like Harry said in Umbridge’s first lesson, for what’s waiting out there. It’s about making sure we really can defend ourselves. If we don’t learn anything for a whole year —”

“We can’t do much by ourselves,” said Ron in a defeated voice. “I mean, all right, we can go and look jinxes up in the library and try and practice them, I suppose —” 

“No, I agree, we’ve gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books,” said Hermione. “We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we’re going wrong.” 

“If you’re talking about Mulligan . . .” Harry began. 

“No, no, I’m not talking about Mulligan,” said Hermione. “She’s too busy with the Order and anyway, the most we could see her is during Hogsmeade weekends and that’s not nearly often enough.” 

Ginny shot her a mischievous look.

“Who, then?” said Harry, frowning at her. 

Hermione heaved a very deep sigh. “Isn’t it obvious?” she said. “I’m talking about you, Harry.” 

“What do you mean me!? I can’t teach DADA!” said Harry, shock evident on his face.

“But you can Harry! Think about it: first year you defeated Voldemort. Second year you killed a basilisk and defeated Him again. Third year you fought off hundreds of dementors and just last year you fought off Voldemort again!”

“I had help for all of those things I couldn’t have done it without help and luck!”

“That’s why we are going to help you!” said Hermione with a smile on her face gesturing to herself, Ron, and Ginny.

“C-Can I think about this?”

“You got it mate,” said Ron.

Hermione watched Harry walk up the stairs to his dorm with his hand trailing through his hair. 

‘ _ Did I do the right thing? Should I not have brought up the subject? _ ’ Hermione began to pace as she thought, but shrugged off her thoughts after realizing how late it was she began walking up to her dorm room. 

\---------------------------------------------------

Hermione made no mention of Harry giving Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons for two whole weeks after her original suggestion. Ron had had four more Quidditch practices and not been shouted at during the last two; and all three of them had managed to vanish their mice in Transfiguration (Hermione had actually progressed to vanishing kittens), before the subject was broached again, on a wild, blustery evening at the end of September, when the four of them were sitting in the library, looking up potion ingredients for Snape. Well only three of them were as Ginny sat keeping them company.

“I was wondering,” Hermione said suddenly, “whether you’d thought any more about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry.” 

“ ’Course I have,” said Harry grumpily. “Can’t forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us —” 

“I meant the idea Ginny and I had” — Ginny cast her an alarmed, threatening kind of look; she frowned at her — “oh, all right, the idea I had, then — about you teaching us.”

Harry did not answer at once. He pretended to be perusing a page of Asiatic Anti-Venoms, because he did not want to say what was in his mind. 

“Well,” he said slowly, when he could not pretend to find Asiatic anti-venoms interesting much longer, “yeah, I — I’ve thought about it a bit.” 

“And?” said Hermione eagerly. 

“I dunno,” said Harry, playing for time. He looked up at Ron. 

“I thought it was a good idea from the start,” said Ron, who seemed keener to join in this conversation now that he was sure that Harry was not going to run off again. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair. 

“You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn’t you?” 

“Yes, Harry,” said Hermione gently, “but all the same, there’s no point pretending that you’re not good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, because you are. You were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can’t, Viktor always said —” 

Ron looked around at her so fast he appeared to crick his neck; rubbing it, he said, “Yeah? What did Vicky say?” 

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron’s antics. “He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn’t, and he was in his final year at Durmstrang.” 

Ron was looking at Hermione suspiciously and Ginny looked like she was about to slap Ron.

“You’re not still in contact with him, are you?”

“So what if I am?” said Hermione coolly, her face impassive. “I can have a pen pal if I —”

“He didn’t only want to be your pen pal,” said Ron accusingly.

At this Harry tried to hide a smile and Ginny broke out into loud laughter causing Madam Pince to shush them. Hermione shook her head exasperatedly and, ignoring Ron, who was continuing to watch her, said to Harry, “Well, what do you think? Will you teach us?”

“Just you, Ginny, and Ron, yeah?”

“Well,” said Hermione, now feeling anxious again. “Well. . . now, don’t run off again, Harry, please. . . . But I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we’re talking about defending ourselves against Voldemort — oh, don’t be pathetic, Ron— it doesn’t seem fair if we don’t offer the chance to other people.”

Harry considered this for a moment, then said, “Yeah, but I doubt anyone except you two would want to be taught by me. I’m a nutter, remember?”

“Well, I think you might be surprised how many people would be interested in hearing what you’ve got to say,” said Hermione seriously. “Look,” she leaned toward him; Ron, who was still watching her with a frown on his face, leaned forward to listen too, “you know the first weekend in October’s a Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who’s interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?”

“Why do we have to do it outside school?” said Ron.

“Because,” said Hermione, returning to the diagram of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage she was copying, “I don’t think Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what we were up to.”

Harry sighed, still skeptical of this plan, but nonetheless agreed to Hermione’s plan.

\-------------------------------------------------

The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned windy and snowy. After breakfast they queued up in front of Filch, who matched their names to the long list of students who had permission from their parents or guardian to visit the village. 

Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione set off at a brisk pace down the wide drive to the gates. They walked between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars and turned left onto the road into the village, the wind whipping their hair and blowing snow into their eyes. Hermione became lost in her thoughts about where she was going after the meeting.

“Where are we going anyway?” Harry asked. “The Three Broomsticks?” 

“Oh — no,” said Hermione, coming out of her reverie, “no, it’s always packed and really noisy. I’ve told the others to meet us in the Hog’s Head, that other pub, you know the one, it’s not on the main road. I think it’s a bit . . . you know . . . dodgy . . . but students don’t normally go in there, so I don’t think we’ll be overheard.” 

They walked down the main street past Zonko’s Joke Shop, where they were unsurprised to see Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, past the post office, from which owls issued at regular intervals, and turned up a side street at the top of which stood a small inn. A battered wooden sign hung from a rusty bracket over the door, with a picture upon it of a wild boar’s severed head leaking blood onto the white cloth around it. The sign creaked in the wind as they approached. All four of them hesitated outside the door. 

“Well, come on,” said Hermione slightly nervously. 

Hermione led the way inside. It was not at all like the Three Broomsticks, whose large bar gave an impression of gleaming warmth and cleanliness. The Hog’s Head bar comprised one small, dingy, and very dirty room that smelled strongly of something that might have been goats. The bay windows were so encrusted with grime that very little daylight could permeate the room, which was lit instead with the stubs of candles sitting on rough wooden tables. The floor seemed at first glance to be earthy, though as Hermione stepped onto it he realized that there was stone beneath what seemed to be the accumulated filth of centuries. There was a man at the bar whose whole head was wrapped in dirty gray bandages, though he was still managing to gulp endless glasses of some smoking, fiery substance through a slit over his mouth. Two figures shrouded in hoods sat at a table in one of the windows; Hermione might have thought them dementors if they had not been talking in strong Yorkshire accents; in a shadowy corner beside the fireplace sat a witch with a thick, black veil that fell to her toes. They could just see the tip of her nose because it caused the veil to protrude slightly. 

“I don’t know about this, Hermione,” Harry muttered, as they crossed to the bar. He was looking particularly at the heavily veiled witch. “Has it occurred to you Umbridge might be under that?” 

Hermione cast an appraising eye at the veiled figure. “Umbridge is shorter than that woman,” she said quietly. “And anyway, even if Umbridge does come in here there’s nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, because I’ve double- and triple-checked the school rules. We’re not out-of-bounds; I specifically asked Professor Flitwick whether students were allowed to come in the Hog’s Head, and he said yes, but he advised me strongly to bring our own glasses. And I’ve looked up everything I can think of about study groups and homework groups and they’re definitely allowed. I just don’t think it’s a good idea if we parade what we’re doing.” 

“No,” said Harry dryly, “especially as it’s not exactly a homework group you’re planning, is it?” 

The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. He was a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of long gray hair and beard. He was tall and thin and looked vaguely familiar to Hermione. 

“What?” he grunted. 

“Three butterbeers, please,” said Hermione.

The man reached beneath the counter and pulled up three very dusty, very dirty bottles, which he slammed on the bar. 

“Six Sickles,” he said. 

“I’ll get them,” said Harry quickly, passing over the silver. 

The barman’s eyes traveled over Harry, resting for a fraction of a second on his scar. Then he turned away and deposited Harry’s money in an ancient wooden till whose drawer slid open automatically to receive it. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione retreated to the farthest table from the bar and sat down, looking around, while the man in the dirty gray bandages rapped the counter with his knuckles and received another smoking drink from the barman. 

“You know what?” Ron murmured, looking over at the bar with enthusiasm. “We could order anything we liked in here, I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn’t care. I’ve always wanted to try firewhisky —” 

“Do you  _ really _ want Mum to find out?” asked Ginny with her eyebrow raised. 

“Oh,” said Ron, the smile fading from his face. “No . . .” 

“So who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?” Harry asked, wrenching open the rusty top of his butterbeer and taking a swig. 

“Just a couple of people,” Hermione repeated, checking her watch and then looking anxiously toward the door. “I told them to be here about now and I’m sure they all know where it is — oh look, this might be them now —” 

The door of the pub had opened. A thick band of dusty sunlight split the room in two for a moment and then vanished, blocked by the incoming rush of a crowd of people. First came Neville with Dean and Lavender, who were closely followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with Cho and one of her usually giggling girlfriends, then (on her own and looking so dreamy that she might have walked in by accident) Luna Lovegood; then Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Ernie Macmillan, Justin FinchFletchley, Hannah Abbott, and a Hufflepuff girl with a long plait down her back whose name Hermione did not know; three Ravenclaw boys she was pretty sure were called Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot; a tall skinny blond boy with an upturned nose whom Harry recognized vaguely as being a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and bringing up the rear, Fred and George Weasley with their friend Lee Jordan, all three of whom were carrying large paper bags crammed with Zonko’s merchandise. 

“A couple of people?” said Harry hoarsely to Hermione. “A couple of people?” 

“Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular,” said Hermione happily. 

“Ron, do you want to pull up some more chairs?”

The barman had frozen in the act of wiping out a glass with a rag so filthy it looked as though it had never been washed. Possibly he had never seen his pub so full. 

“Hi,” said Fred, reaching the bar first and counting his companions quickly. “Could we have . . . twenty-five butterbeers, please?”

The barman glared at him for a moment, then, throwing down his rag irritably as though he had been interrupted in something very important, he started passing up dusty butterbeers from under the bar.

“Cheers,” said Fred, handing them out. “Cough up, everyone, I haven’t got enough gold for all of these. . . .”

Harry watched with an unreadable look on his face as the large chattering group took their beers from Fred and rummaged in their robes to find coins. 

“What have you been telling people?” he said in a low voice. “What are they expecting?” 

“I’ve told you, they just want to hear what you’ve got to say,” said Hermione soothingly; but Harry continued to look at her so nervously that she added quickly, “You don’t have to do anything yet, I’ll speak to them first.”

“Hi, Harry,” said Neville, beaming and taking a seat opposite Harry. Cho had just smiled at him and sat down on Ron’s right. Her friend, who had curly reddish-blonde hair, did not smile, but gave Harry a thoroughly mistrustful look that clearly said, given her way, she would not be here at all. In twos and threes the new arrivals settled around Harry, Ron, and Hermione, some looking rather excited, others curious, Luna Lovegood gazing dreamily into space. When everybody had pulled up a chair, the chatter died out. Every eye was upon Harry. 

“Hi everyone,” said Hermione, her voice steady, but quiet. 

The group focused its attention on her instead, though eyes continued to dart back regularly to Harry. 

“Well, I hope you know why you’re here. I had the idea — that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts — and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us” — (Hermione’s voice became suddenly much louder and more confident) — “because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts” — “Hear, hear,” said Anthony Goldstein, and Hermione felt heartened — “well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands.” She paused, looked sideways at Harry, and went on, “And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just theory but the real spells —” 

“You want to pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. too though, I bet?” said Michael Corner. 

“Of course I do,” said Hermione at once. “But I want more than that, I want to be properly trained in Defense because,” She took a great breath and finished, “Because Lord Voldemort’s back.” 

The reaction was immediate and predictable. Cho’s friend shrieked and slopped butterbeer down herself, Terry Boot gave a kind of involuntary twitch, Padma Patil shuddered, and Neville gave an odd yelp that he managed to turn into a cough. All of them, however, looked fixedly, even eagerly, at Harry. 

“Well . . . that’s the plan anyway,” said Hermione. “If you want to join us, we need to decide how we’re going to —”

“Where’s the proof You-Know-Who’s back?” said the blond Hufflepuff player in a rather aggressive voice. 

“Well, I believe Harry and I know that Harry’s not a liar,” Hermione began. 

“You believe him,” said the blond boy, nodding at Harry. 

“Who are you?” said Ginny rather rudely. 

“Zacharias Smith,” said the boy, “and I think we’ve got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who’s back.” 

“Look,” said Hermione, intervening swiftly, “that’s really not what this meeting was supposed to be about —” 

“It’s okay, Hermione,” said Harry. “What makes me say You-Know-Who’s back?” he asked, looking Zacharias straight in the face. “I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn’t believe him, you don’t believe me, and I’m not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone.” 

The whole group seemed to have held its breath while Harry spoke. 

Zacharias said dismissively, “All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory’s body back to Hogwarts. He didn’t give us details, he didn’t tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we’d all like to know —” 

“If you’ve come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can’t help you,” Harry said. He did not take his eyes from Zacharias Smith’s aggressive face “I don’t want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that’s what you’re here for, you might as well clear out.” He cast an angry look in Hermione’s direction. He stood and waited for some of them to clear out of the pub.

But none of them left their seats, not even Zacharias Smith, though he continued to gaze intently at Harry. 

“So,” said Hermione, her voice quiet again. “So . . . like I was saying . . . if you want to learn some defense, then we need to work out how we’re going to do it, how often we’re going to meet, and where we’re going to —” 

“Is it true,” interrupted the girl with the long plait down her back, looking at Harry, “that you can produce a Patronus?” 

There was a murmur of interest around the group at this. 

“Yeah,” said Harry slightly defensively. 

“A corporeal Patronus?” 

“Er — you don’t know Madam Bones, do you?” he asked. 

The girl smiled. “She’s my auntie,” she said. “I’m Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So — is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?” 

“Yes,” said Harry. 

“Blimey, Harry!” said Lee, looking deeply impressed. “I never knew that!” 

“Mum told Ron not to spread it around,” said Fred, grinning at Harry. “She said you got enough attention as it was.” 

Hermione smiled at how embarrassed Harry looked, not out of spite, but because he was finally opening up.

“She’s not wrong,” mumbled Harry and a couple of people laughed. The veiled witch sitting alone shifted very slightly in her seat. 

“And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore’s office?” demanded Terry Boot. 

“That’s what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year. . . .” 

“Er — yeah, I did, yeah,” said Harry. Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled, the Creevey brothers exchanged awestruck looks, and Lavender Brown said “wow” softly.

“And in our first year,” said Neville to the group at large, “he saved that Sorcerous Stone —” 

“Sorcerer’s,” corrected Hermione. 

“Yes, that, from You-Know-Who,” finished Neville. Hannah Abbott’s eyes were as round as Galleons. 

“And that’s not to mention,” said Cho,“all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year — getting past dragons and merpeople and acromantulas and things. . . .” 

There was a murmur of impressed agreement around the table. 

“Look,” he said and everyone fell silent at once, “I . . . I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to be modest or anything, but . . . I had a lot of help with all that stuff. . . .” 

“Not with the dragon, you didn’t,” said Michael Corner at once. “That was a seriously cool bit of flying. . . .” 

“Yeah, well —” said Harry, feeling it would be churlish to disagree. 

“And nobody helped you get rid of those dementors this summer,” said Susan Bones. 

“No,” said Harry, “no, okay, I know I did bits of it without help, but the point I’m trying to make is —” 

“Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?” said Zacharias Smith. 

“Here’s an idea,” said Ron loudly, before Harry could speak, “why don’t you shut your mouth?” 

Zacharias flushed. “Well, we’ve all turned up to learn from him, and now he’s telling us he can’t really do any of it,” he said. 

“That’s not what he said,” snarled Fred Weasley. 

“Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?” inquired George, pulling a long and lethal-looking metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko’s bags. 

“Or any part of your body, really, we’re not fussy where we stick this,” said Fred. 

“Yes, well,” said Hermione hastily, “moving on . . . the point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?” 

There was a murmur of general agreement from the group.

“Okay so if you wish to join please come up here and sign your name in this book. I will also hand you a galleon. Don’t lose these as they will tell you when the next meeting is. They will heat up when a message is sent through.”

One by one everyone in the pub walked up to the book, signed their names, and received a galleon. Everyone in the pub broke out into excited conversations and none of them could hear Hermione as she tried to get their attention.

“Hem, hem,” said Ginny in such a good imitation of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm and then laughed. “Weren’t we trying to decide how often we’re going to meet and get Defense lessons?” 

“Yes,” said Hermione at once, “yes, we were, you’re right. . . .” 

“Well, once a week sounds cool,” said Lee Jordan. 

“As long as —” began Angelina. 

“Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch,” said Hermione in a tense voice. “Well, the other thing to decide is where we’re going to meet. . . .” 

This was rather more difficult; the whole group fell silent. 

“Library?” suggested Katie Bell after a few moments. 

“I can’t see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library,” said Harry. 

“Maybe an unused classroom?” said Dean. 

“Yeah,” said Ron, “McGonagall might let us have her’s, Mulligan did when Harry was practicing for the Triwizard. . . .”

But Hermione was pretty certain that McGonagall would not be as accommodating as Bella was. 

“Right, well, we’ll try to find somewhere,” said Hermione. “We’ll send a message round to everybody when we’ve got a time and a place for the first meeting.” 

Everyone began to file out of the pub. Once the four of them began to walk back to the castle, Hermione leaned over to Harry and whispered to him.

“Harry can I borrow your cloak?”

He looked at her confused before answering her back,“Sure let me grab it out of my bag.”

Harry handed Hermione the cloak after making sure that Ginny and Ron weren’t looking.

“Stay safe okay?”

“Of course Harry.”

“Can I ask what you’re doing with the cloak?”

“Meeting a friend.”

“Who? Do I know them?”

“I can’t tell you that Harry, but I won’t be in any danger.”

He looked at her skeptically, but nodded his head in acceptance before turning back to Ron and Ginny as they started to talk about quidditch. Hermione split off from the group after lying about leaving her quill in the Hog’s Head. She walked through the snow towards a looming worn down house. Her hand stuffed deep in her pocket was gently caressing a letter. She stopped in front of the door and pulled her hand out of her pocket. She paused for a second, but heard loud footsteps pacing so she quickly threw off the cloak and opened the door. 

Hermione stepped into the house and was immediately pulled into a tight embrace. Hermione let out a squeak of surprise before melting into the embrace.

“I missed you,”muttered Hermione into Bella’s chest.

“I missed you too my lioness,”said Bella, a huge grin lighting up her face as she leaned down to kiss Hermione. They kissed until they needed to separate for air. Once they caught their breath Bella’s tone quickly switched to a concerned one. “How’s your hand?” she asked, taking a hold of Hermione’s left hand.

“It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore. But the howler the other day caused Umbridge to run out of the hall screa-Bella, you're hiding something.”

“No-”

“Don’t try to deny it, I know that look on your face.”

Bella let out a sigh before answering Hermione.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s clearly not ‘nothing’ if I can tell it’s bothering you.”

Bella let go of Hermione’s hand and sat down on the dusty couch.

“I can’t tell you any specifics, but tensions are getting higher and my position is getting dangerous,” Bella said resting her forehead in her hand looking stressed and exhausted.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I can’t put you in danger,” said Bella looking into Hermione’s eyes.

“Bella, I’m friends with Harry Potter. I'm always in danger,” said Hermione exasperated.

“I know, but I don’t want to put you into more danger. Can we just drop the subject?” When Bella finished speaking she ran her hand through her hair.

“Fine, but first please tell me that you are safe and that I won’t lose you.”

“You know that I can’t make any promises that I can't keep.”

Hermione let out a sigh as she sat down next to Bella and leaned her head on her shoulder. Bella brought her arms around Hermione and pulled her into an embrace. The two of them sat quietly as a heavy silence settled around them. The weight of what could happen with the rising tensions catching up to both of them. Bellatrix was first to break the silence.

“Hermione I can make you one promise that I will do everything I can to come back safe to you.”

Hermione nestled her head deeper into Bella’s shoulder and mumbled,“Okay.”

The two of them stayed curled up together on the dusty couch until Hermione had to leave to get back to the castle. Hermione sat up and tried to stand up, but Bella’s strong arms pulled her back down to cuddle more.

“Bella I have to get back now,” said Hermione smiling at her antics.

“I don’t want you to go though,” pouted Bella.

“I don’t want to go either, but I’d rather not get detention.”

“Just stay with me, you don’t need to go back.”

“Bella I can’t. I need to get back.”

Bella pouted silently, but let Hermione get up.

Bella stood up and tried to stall Hermione for as long as she could again until Hermione put her foot down and told Bella to stop distracting her. Hermione and Bella shared one more kiss before stalling for a little as neither of them wanted to say goodbye.

“Hermione please try to stay out of trouble with Umbridge. It's too risky for me to send another howler to her since she is no doubt trying to trace that letter as it is.”

“I’ll try my best, but I don’t know if I’ll be able too.”

“All that I ask is that you try.”

“I can do that.”

Both of them stood in silence for a couple of minutes neither wanting to say bye but Hermione realized that she needed to get back to the castle.

“I have to go now, Bella. I’ll miss you.”

“I know. I’ll miss you too.”

Bella leaned down to peck Hermione on the lips before Hermione walked over to exit sadly looking back over her shoulder at Bella as she stepped out of the building. Hermione threw the invisibility cloak over her and began to walk back to the castle. Hermione began to sprint back to the castle once she realized how late it was. She ran grinning the whole way back to her dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know not much happened in this chapter but any feedback would be great!


	20. NOT AN UPDATE! Please read

To my amazing readers-

I’m deeply sorry for this and I can’t express how sorry I am about this. My workload has gotten insane and on top of that there are a lot of things going on in the state I live in and I need to take a break and focus on school and the issues going on where I live. I don’t think its fair to you guys that I can’t give this fic all of my attention and put everything I can into it. So I will be taking a break from writing. I will probably update when things begin to settle down and I can focus more on this. I promise to you guys that this fic is not abandoned and I will finish this. Again I’m so sorry about this and I will try my best to update as soon as I can. Again I promise this fic isn’t abandoned. I’m so sorry words can’t express how sorry I am. I hope you guys are doing well and I hope that I’ll be able to post again soon. I’m so so so sorry.

-mry6633


	21. UPDATE ON HIATUS

To my amazing readers-

Thank you guys so much for your support and loving messages it means a lot to me. I can’t express how much disbelief I feel about people actually liking my writing. I’m really happy to tell you guys that things are finally setting down after a stressful week or so. My state is still in a bit of a pickle, but we are moving forward. My workload is still pretty crazy, but it’s settled down enough where I have time to write and upload chapters. My updates won’t be consistent all the time, but I’ll try to update whenever I can. I’ll most likely be posting sometime this week! Again I just have to say thank you guys for the kind words they really helped me through some rough spots. 

-mry6633


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally here to give you guys another chapter! I'm not the happiest with how this chapter turned out so I may go back and do some editing, but for now enjoy!

Hermione and Ginny walked out of the Great Hall on their way to the Gryffindor tower so that Ginny could grab her books before class when they overheard McGonagall and Umbrigde down a hall. The two exchanged looks and they rushed over to the crowd of students beginning to form around the two professors. McGonagall and Umbridge standing on the stairs staring each other down. 

“Professor but what exactly are you insinuating?” questioned Umbridge stepping up one step to be eye level to the transfiguration professor.

“I am really requesting that when it comes to my students you conform to the prescribed disciplinary practices,” said McGonagall calmly stepping up onto the same step as Umbridge so that she was taller than Umbridge.

“So silly of me, but it sounds as if you're questioning my authority in my own classroom Minerva,” said Umbridge, stepping up another step.

“Not at all Dolores merely your medieval methods!” exclaimed McGonagall stepping up another step yet again.

“I am sorry dear but to question my practices is to question the ministry and by extension of the minister himself. I am a tolerant woman but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty,” The students gasped as McGonagall staggered backward down the stairs taken aback at being called disloyal,“Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I feared! Cornelius will want to take immediate action!”

The toad briskly walked away muttering to herself. McGonagall let out a gasp at the thought of the ministry interfering more at Hogwarts. The group of students that gathered around the two professors let out a collective gasp and some even shouted their outrage before being shushed by McGonagall.

McGonagall began to speak when Umbridge was out of earshot,“Students I know this is troubling news, but things will be taken care of. Now I’m sure you have classes to get to so off you go.”

McGonagall walked away towards her classroom as more hushed murmuring erupted from the crowd. 

Ginny turned to look at Hermione,“What do you think this means?”

“I don’t know Ginny but it won’t be good,” said Hermione grimly.

Ginny hummed her agreement before telling Hermione that she had to get to class and running off to Herbology. Hermione didn’t have a class this morning because of her use of the time turner she already finished her ancient runes course. 

Hermione had thought about where the group could hold lessons the week prior, but came up short. Hermione had even contacted Bella yesterday asking about somewhere in the castle that they could use, but Hermione didn’t get an answer back yet. 

Hermione thought to herself,‘ _ I’ve already checked the library. I’ve looked for an empty classroom and they are all too small. I don’t know where else to look.’ _ While Hermione was lost in her thoughts her feet had already carried her out to the edge of the lake. She sat down on a large rock and continued to think.  _ ‘Maybe I could ask McGonagall? No, she's already done so much for us. I guess the only thing I can do is wait for Bella’s response.’ _

Hermione had gotten so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t see the large black owl land next to her. When she looked over to her right she was so surprised to see the owl that she fell off the rock. When she sat up on the pebbly beach, Nyx was sitting on the rock that she had just fallen off of. Hermione stood up and quickly untied the letter from Nyx’s leg and quickly began reading.

_ Hermione- _

_ Meet me in the shack tonight at midnight. _

_ See you soon _

_ -Bella _

Hermione finished the letter a bit disappointed that Bella had barely written anything in the letter, but her overwhelming sense of excitement quickly drowned out her disappointment. Hermione decided that she needed to go prepare for her next class and walked back to the castle with a smile on her face. 

————————————-

Hermione sat in the common room with Harry, Ron, and Ginny talking about possible places to meet for the DADA lesson. 

“What about the chamber of secrets?” asked Ron. 

  
  


“Don’t be daft Ron. I doubt Ginny and Harry want to go back down there,” said Hermione rolling her eyes. 

“Oh right…” Ron looked down at his feet embarrassed at being called out. 

Ron and Ginny got into another argument about using the shrieking shack. While the other two were distracted Hermione turned to Harry. 

“Can I borrow your cloak again?”

“Yeah sure let me go get it.”

Harry disappeared up the stairs into his dorm. 

“Where’s he going?” asked Ron. 

“To get me the cloak so I can do some research in the library.”

“Of course you would sneak out to go to the library,” said Ron with a laugh. 

“Hermione would never do anything bad; she's too much of a rule follower,” laughed Ginny. 

Hermione laughed,“Yep that’s me.”

The three of them dissolved into laughter. Hermione thought to herself ‘ _ If only you knew’  _ causing her to laugh harder about the situation. Harry walked over to the group a smile on his face at the laughter. 

“What’s all this about?” asked Harry, still smiling. 

“Just about how Hermione would never do anything bad and that she’s the only one who would sneak out to go to the library ,” said Ginny, still laughing. 

Harry laughed for a couple of minutes before handing Hermione the cloak. Hermione’s face had turned a dark shade of red out of embarrassment which just caused the other three to laugh harder. 

“Well I'm glad that you find my rule following funny, but I’m going to go now,” said Hermione, still flushed from the previous embarrassment. Hermione turned around to walk out of the common room when Ginny called out to her.

“Hermione I’m sorry if I upset you,” said Ginny, looking very apologetic.

“It’s fine Ginny I’m not mad, said Hermione, smiling,”But I really need to go now.”

“Okay.”

Hermione turned again ready to walk away.

“Hermione!”

Hermione turned back around.

“Stay safe.”

“Of course.”

Hermione turned around to walk out of the common room for the third time. She paused for a split second halfway out of the door expecting to be stopped for the fourth time. When no one called out her name she stepped out of the portrait hole and threw on the cloak. She began to smile to herself as she made her way out of the castle. 

————————-

Hermione pressed the knot on the whomping willow and watched as the tree froze in place. She walked down the hidden tunnel and the tree began to move once more as she disappeared down the hole. 

—————————

“Bella?” called Hermione as she stepped into the shack. Hermione furrowed her brows when she got no response and walked further into the shack looking for Bellatrix. Hermione looked everywhere in the shack even upstairs and came to the conclusion that Bella wasn’t at the shack. 

Hermione began to think to herself ‘ _ Did she forget? No she wouldn’t have since she sent the owl today. Maybe she couldn’t make it? No she would have sent me something. What if something happened when she was spying? What if she’s hurt? What if she..’  _ Hermione couldn’t finish that thought as it was too painful to even think about Bella dying. Hermione began to frantically pace the ‘ _ What if’s’  _ began to race in her mind. She began to hyperventilate and curled up into a ball in one of the corners of the room. She became so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t hear heeled boots walk into the room. 

“Hermione?” called Bella carefully and when she realized that Hermione wasn’t responding she began to call out her name more and more frantically. Bella knelt down in front of Hermione and began to gently shake her to try and get her out of her trance like state. 

Hermione finally broke out of the trance that she was in and flung her arms around Bella’s neck and began to cry into Bella’s neck. 

“Hermione?! You’re scaring me. What’s going on?!”

“ I thought something happened to you since you were late and I was afraid that you might have…” Hermione trailed off as her sobs took over once again. 

Bella who wasn’t always the best at comforting people simply just wrapped her arms tighter around the smaller brunette as she didn’t know what to say. 

“Now you probably think I’m over dramatic or something,” sniffled Hermione. 

“I don’t think that my little lioness. I could never think that about you,” said Bella leaning down to plant a kiss on the top of Hermione’s head. 

“You really think that?” asked Hermione looking up at Bella. 

“Of course. I would never lie to you,” said Bella smiling down at Hermione. 

Hermione smiled back at Bella before wiping away her tears and letting out a small laugh. 

“I imagine that I don’t look the best right now.”

“Nonsense, I think you look beautiful.”

Hermione blushed a bit before Bella helped her to her feet and that sat down on one of the nearby couches. 

“Why were you late?” asked Hermione. 

“Voldemort’s inner circle meeting went longer than planned due to some complications with his plan.”

“What complications?”

“I wish I could tell you, but I can’t since he put a tongue tying curse on the subject matter.”

“I understand. Does it put people in danger?”

“Love, his plans always do,” Bella didn’t notice that she had let the l-word slip out when she was talking, but Hermione did. 

“You love me?” asked Hermione in a small voice. 

Bella froze for a couple of seconds realizing what she said before responding carefully, “I do..”

“Could you say it all together?” Hermione asked still in a small voice. 

Bella reached over and grabbed Hermione’s hands and brought them into her lap. 

“I love you. I’ve loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you and I’m just realizing now how deeply and utterly in love I am with you,” said Bella, looking into Hermione’s eyes. 

Hermione blushed a little bit before responding to Bella, “I love you too.”

“You do?!” asked Bella thoroughly shocked. 

“Of course! I think I’ve loved you since our first kiss.”

Bella muttered something under her breath looking down at the ground. 

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” said Bella looking at her boots. 

“Bella I know you better than that. What is it?”

Bella repeated herself in a louder voice so Hermione could hear, “I never thought anyone was capable of loving someone like me.”

“Why on earth would you think that!?!” 

“Because that’s what my father told me growing up.”

“Bella..”

“It’s okay love, it was a long time ago.”

“Obviously it still affects you since you still think that way.”

“Can we not talk about this right now?” asked Bellatrix, looking a little desperate to change the subject. 

“Sorry if I brought up bad memories, but please know that you can talk to me about them. I will never judge you.”

Bella nodded her head in acknowledgment before changing the subject. 

“From what I can gather from your most recent letter you need a place to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts?”

“Yes and I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find anywhere for us to practice!”

“You haven’t looked everywhere,”said Bella cryptically.

“You know somewhere for us to practice?!”

“It’s a room called The Room of Requirement.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s on the seventh floor, across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.” 

“I’ve been in that corridor and there’s no room there Bella.”

“You have to open the room to access it. In order to open the room you must walk past the area of the door three times, thinking of what you need. So for your purposes think of somewhere to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

“That wasn’t in  _ Hogwarts A History _ ! How do you know about this?”

“I kind of stumbled upon it by accident while I was at Hogwarts. ”

“Well I’m glad you did! Thank you for telling me about the Room of Requirement! Harry and the others are going to be so happy that we have a place to practice!”

“I’m glad I could help,” said Bella with a gentle smile on her face as she watched her love excitedly bounce in her seat thinking about lessons for the Defense Against the Dark Arts practices. 

“What are you thinking about?”

Hermione looked over at Bella with a huge smile on her face, “I’m thinking about all the lessons we can do and what we should do first!”

“Well based on when I was teaching I suggest that you start off with something fun yet challenging.”

“That would work!” said Hermione excitedly, “But what should we do?”

Bella opened her mouth to answer, but Hermione cut her off. 

“Maybe dueling! But that might be too advanced…” Hermione trailed off trying to think of a lesson for the Defense Against the Dark Arts practice. 

“What about the patronus charm?” asked Bella. 

“That would be amazing! I wonder what patronus Ginny will have!”

Bella chuckled at Hermione’s enthusiasm. 

“When does your little club plan on meeting up?” asked Bella.

“We didn’t set a date, but I think we will meet up tomorrow,” said Hermione toying with Bella’s fingers. 

Bella looked down at their hands and simply hummed in response. Hermione felt something buzz next to her and she jumped up as she didn’t know what was making that vibration. 

Bella stood up next to Hermione worried about why she jumped up. When she realized what scared Hermione she laughed at the bewildered expression on Hermione’s face. After she laughed for a minute she stopped to explain what made the vibration. 

“It was just my wand, Love. I set an alarm since I need to get going to meet up with my sister,” said Bella almost apologetically. 

“Tell me how it goes. I’ll see you later,” said Hermione smiling. 

“I’m sorry to cut our time short-”

“Bella it’s okay I really don’t mind-”

“But-”

“Bella go,” said Hermione almost laughing at Bella’s hesitance to leave. 

“Alright I’ll go now. I love you,” Bella said, taking a step closer to Hermione. 

“I love you too,” smiled Hermione. 

Hermione stood on her tiptoes to kiss the taller woman. Bella leaned down a bit so that Hermione wouldn’t have to stand on her tiptoes. When their lips met the world melted away and it was just Hermione with the love of her life. Their lips moved passionately and hands began to wander. Hermione was first to break the kiss and gasp for air. 

“Bella you need to go.”

“Unfortunately you are right. I love you. I‘ll owl you tomorrow.” Bella blew one last kiss to Hermione before shifting into a raven and flying out one of the windows. 

Hermione watched her love fly away while thinking to herself ‘ _ I guess that answered that question _ ’. Since Bella had said she had an animagus form Hermione had been struggling to figure out what form Bella takes. 

Hermione threw on the invisibility cloak and began the long walk back to her common room. The whole walk she kept replaying the moment that Bella said that she loved her on a loop in her head. She went to bed that night with a huge grin plastered on her face. 

————————————-

Hermione walked into the common room the next morning and quickly pulled Harry, Ron, and Ginny aside. 

“Oi! Hermione what are you doing!” exclaimed Ron looking longingly at Lavender Brown. 

“Oh hush Ronald!”

“Hermione why exactly did you drag us away from everyone?” asked Harry. 

“I’ve found somewhere that we can practice!”

“Really?!”

“Yes really! I’ll show you after we eat breakfast,” said Hermione excitedly. 

“Well we should go eat then!” said Ginny almost running out of the common room. 

The other three followed her, Hermione and Harry laughing with smiles on their faces while Ron was still grumbling about being dragged away.

——————————

“Hermione there is nothing here!” said Ron after watching Hermione pace back and forward in front of a wall. 

Hermione didn’t respond to him as she was too focused on opening the room. 

“I’m out of here this is a waste of time.” Ron turned around and began to walk away when he heard stone scraping against stone. 

“Good job Hermione!” exclaimed Ginny as she ran up to Hermione to give her a high five. 

The group of four walked in and were shocked to see a perfect room to practice in. The room was large and had plenty of room for all the students. There were dueling dummies in the room that would be perfect to practice on. The room had two fireplaces on either side to heat up the room since a room of this size was bound to get cold since it was winter. In the middle of the room there was a raised platform just like the one the group had seen in Mulligan’s class when they dueled. 

Ginny and Harry walked around the room completely amazed by how perfect the room was. Harry turned to Hermione after looking around the room for a few minutes. 

“What exactly is this room?”

“This is the Room of Requirement. Whatever room or place you think about in front of where the door should be, the room will make a proper room to suit your needs.”

“Woah that’s so cool!” said Ginny. 

The group continued to explore the room and plan for their first meeting before they decided to leave and go eat dinner. Unknown to them, but they were seen entering and leaving the room by none other than the pink toad herself. When they left she attempted to enter the room but the door dissolved right in front of her face. Infuriated she let out a scream trotted back to her classroom. Once she was safely locked in her office she sat down behind her desk and began plotting how to catch the ‘hooligans’. 

——————————

Hermione sat in her bed in the girls dormitory with the curtains drawn around her so that no one could see her. She reached into the pocket of her robes and pulled out a simple white letter that had been delivered to her during breakfast. She broke the seal on the letter and pulled out the parchment inside of the envelope. 

_ My love,  _

_ Everything went well. Narcissa is doing well. But she is stressed about Voldemort and his troops taking over her home. Nagini has been quite the issue since she keeps trying to eat the house elves.  _

_ Before you say anything I know you don’t like that she keeps the house elves, but I can’t say anything since it would seem strange for the coldhearted Bellatrix Black to suddenly have compassion for house elves. I promise once this whole mess is over I’ll talk to her about it.  _

_ I miss you so much. I wish you were here with me right now. I know I just saw you yesterday, but I can’t help myself.  _

_ -Bella _

When Hermione finished reading the last paragraph she had tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped her tears off and realized just how much she missed Bella and wished she was with her love with every fiber in her being. She fell asleep that night holding the letter close to her chest hoping that it would make her feel closer to Bella. 

——————————-

“Thank you everyone for joining us today!” excitedly said Hermione standing on the elevated platform. 

“We are so glad that you guys made it! Since I am not teaching this class I’ll let Harry take over.” Hermione stepped back so that Harry was standing in front of herself, Ron, and Ginny. 

“Er hello everyone. Today we will be working on a specific charm. The patronus charm. This charm is used to send messages and fend off dementors. Please understand that this charm isn’t the easiest to perform and you might not get it today, but we will keep working on it until everyone gets it right!” Harry finished talking on a strong note and everyone began to applaud him. 

“So the incantation is ‘ _ Expecto Patronum _ ’ and the wand movement is just a swipe forward. Like this,” Harry stopped talking and whipped his wand out and performed the charm perfectly and a large stag burst out of the end of his wand. 

Harry began to speak again, “Er you guys can split off into groups or practice by yourself. Hermione and I will be walking around the room to help all those who need it.” 

With that Harry dismissed the group of students to try out the charm. 

Zacharis Smith yelled out from the back of the room, “How come Granger is helping?! She could be faking and she can’t cast one after all and is bluffing!”

Hermione enraged that the boy thought her incompetent cast her patronus, “ _ Expecto Patronum! _ ”

A huge dark lion burst out of her wand roaring as it ran over to sit next to Hermione’s feet. The gathered students began to cheer and the twins began to berate Smith about how wrong he was. 

The rest of the lesson went smoothly and a good number of students were able to cast a patronus by the end. The students left the room talking loudly and in high spirits. 

——————————

Just after everyone cleared out of the room and were safely away from the room. Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad sprinted down the hall desperate to catch the students. When they arrived in front of where the door was Umbridge let out a loud shriek. 

“Look it’s shrinking, hurry up and get there!!”

Umbridge had spotted the rapidly shrinking door and was pointing a grubby finger at it. The Slytherins in the group put a bust of speed in and Goyle dove at the door only to have it disappear when he was in midair. He realized what was happening all too late and slammed into the stone wall with a loud bang. 

Umbridge let out a loud scream of unbridled rage at failing to catch the students once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it! Feel free to leave me any feedback you have!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a nice long chapter! I've decided to speed up the timeline a little more to get this story moving a bit faster. Also I want to say thank you to all of my readers. You guys mean a lot to me since I never thought this story would get anywhere. Thank you guys. I hope you guys enjoy!

Today was a day of stress and nothing but stress especially for a certain bushy haired Gryffindor. Today was testing for O.W.L.S. and everyone was trying to cram in last minute studying before it was too late. Hermione had been sitting in the same chair for the past couple of hours studying from multiple books attempting to soak up all the knowledge she could before the testing began. Nearby Hermione someone cleared their throat. Hermione looked up from her books and realized that everyone had left the common room besides her friends. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were all staring at her.

“What?” asked Hermione a bit irritated at the fact that they had interrupted her studying time.

“Have you been sneaking off to see Krum?” aggressively asked Ron with jealousy written across his face.

“What? No! Of course not!”

Ron’s facial features had changed into a look of disbelief and anger.

“Why are you lying?! You haven’t been in the library! So who did you see?!?”

“I’m not lying Ronald Weasly! Don’t accuse me of things I didn’t do!” Hermione could feel her anger quickly building up.

“I know you snuck out to see someone! Who is it?!”

“Ronald Billius Weasly you don’t need to know every little thing about my life!”

Harry and Ginny were watching the exchange with twin looks of shock at the way Ron had so suddenly begun to question Hermione.

“Why are you being so defensive? You snuck out to see someone who is it?!?”

“So what if I snuck out to see someone?! It’s my life you don’t control my life!”

Ron had been moving closer and closer to Hermione throughout their ‘conversation’ and was now so close that he was inches away from her face. 

“Who did you see,” growled Ron. 

“It doesn’t concern you! I don’t need to tell you who I saw!”

Ginny butted into the conversation cutting Ron off, “Ron settle down you know Hermione. She would never see someone who’s the enemy.”

Harry quickly agreed with Ginny and Ron walked across the common room to sit in a chair to seethe with anger and pout. 

“Hermione did you see someone dangerous or someone you aren’t supposed to be seeing?” asked Ginny. 

“I mean they are dangerous-“

“I knew it!” yelled Ron. 

“Shut up Ronald!” yelled Harry and Ginny. 

They all looked at Hermione expectantly. 

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. The person I saw is dangerous, but isn’t everyone? Even Dumbledore is dangerous if need be. But, the person I saw would never hurt me and I am always safe when I’m with them,” finished Hermione with a smile.

“You’re sure that this person would never hurt you?” asked Harry just as Ginny shot Hermione a look that clearly said ‘Are you seeing Mulligan?’ 

“Yes, Harry. I trust this person with my life,” said Hermione confidently while nodding at Ginny. 

“Then that’s all I need to know,” said Harry dismissing the topic. 

Ginny just simply smirked and said nothing. 

“But-“ began Ron before Ginny quickly shut him up. 

Hermione checked the time and realized with a shock that Harry, Ron, and herself had their O.W.L.S in two minutes and they needed to get to the Great Hall to take their tests. 

“We are going to be late for O.W.L.S!” exclaimed Hermione as she quickly grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder.

Harry and Ron had expressions of mild panic on their faces as they grabbed their bags and sprinted out of the common room leaving Hermione and Ginny alone.

“So, Mulligan?” asked Ginny smugly

“Yes, Ginny. I am seeing her. I have to go now, Gin.” said Hermione as she jogged out of the portrait hole.

Hermione broke into a sprint down the empty halls to the Great Hall and just barely made it to the hall in time. She quickly got in line with the rest of the fifth years and waited to be let into the Hall.

The fifth years entered the Great Hall at two o’clock and took their places in front of their overturned examination papers. Umbridge stood at the front of the room and waited for everyone to stand in front of where they should be sitting before allowing everyone to begin their tests. The only noise that was heard in the hall was Umbridge clearing her throat, quills scratching on parchment, and the ticktock of the large clock. 

Hermione began to answer the questions on her test taking her time and making sure to be through when answering even the simplest of questions. She was about halfway done when she heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter. Hermione brushed it off and continued her test. When she had three questions left a loud noise was heard outside of the hall. Umbridge made a noise of disapproval and snapped at the students to finish their tests. When she was about five feet away from the door the doors slammed open and the twins soared into the room on the brooms throwing glowing things down on the floor. 

Everyone in the hall quickly realized that they were fireworks from the sheer amount of noise and began yelling and cheering. Hermione saw that one of them was taking the shape of a bright, colorful dragon and it began to soar towards Umbridge at an alarming speed. She began to scream and began running towards the door. The dragon opened its mouth and it raced faster towards the pink toad. Umbridge screamed as she disappeared inside its mouth then all of a sudden the dragon disappeared and the twins began yelling for everyone to go to the courtyard as they zoomed out on their brooms. 

The students began sprinting for the door and a sea of students raced out to the courtyard. The whole school had gathered out in the courtyard even the professors were cheering for the firework show. The show ended with a loud bang as the Hogwarts logo appeared above the school. Hermione was laughing and cheering the twins on when she saw Harry fall to the ground holding his scar. 

—————————-

**_Harry’s POV_ **

Harry was watching the fireworks and cheering on the twins when he felt a tingling sensation on his scar. The last thing he remembered was seeing the world go sideways. 

He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries again, walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, determined to reach his destination at last. . . . The black door swung open for him as usual, and here he was in the circular room with its many doors. . . .

Straight across the stone floor and through the second door . . . patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no time to explore, he must hurry. . . .

He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open just like the others. . . .

Once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres. . . . His heart was beating very fast now. . . . He was going to get there this time. . . . When he reached number ninety-seven he turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows. . . .

But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving upon the floor like a wounded animal. . . . Harry’s stomach contracted with fear . . . with excitement. . . .

A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness, “Take it for me. . . . Lift it down, now. . . . I cannot touch it . . . but you can. . . .”

The black shape upon the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long- fingered white hand clutching a wand rise on the end of his own arm . . . heard the high, cold voice say, “Crucio!”

The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted, and the figure groaned and became motionless.

“Lord Voldemort is waiting. . . .”

Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance. . . .

“You’ll have to kill me,” whispered Sirius.

“Undoubtedly I shall in the end,” said the cold voice. “But you will fetch it for me first, Black. . . . You think you have felt pain thus far?Think again. . . . We have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream. . . .”

Harry jerked back into his own body and opened his eyes and saw Hermione shaking him and yelling his name. 

———————————

**Hermione’s POV**

Hermione sprinted over to Harry when she saw him fall clutching his scar and she began to shake him attempting to wake him up. 

“Harry? Harry wake up! Harry, this isn’t funny wake up! HARRY!” Hermione was becoming more and more hysterical by the moment as she saw her best friend lying on the floor motionless. She continued to scream his name. Just as Ginny realized what was going on and started to run over (Ron was too consumed in watching the firework show) Harry opened his eyes and gasped loudly for air like he had been underwater. She helped Harry to his feet and began to move him out of the courtyard. 

“Harry what happened?” asked Hermione as she began to lead them to the common room. 

Harry was silent for a moment before answering. 

“I-I dunno,” said Harry. “I was watching the fireworks and all of a sudden I was in the ministry?” His eyes widened in realization “Voldemort has Sirius and is torturing him!”

“What?!” exclaimed Ginny. 

“Why didn’t you lead with that?” huffed Hermione as she sat them down at one of the sofas in the common room. 

“I need to get to him!”

“Harry, why on earth would Voldemort have Sirius?” asked Hermione. 

“To get to me!”

“Harry I seriously doubt that Voldemort has him.”

“But I saw it!”

“It may not have been true Harry.”

The pair continued to argue about it for a couple more minute before Ginny interrupted them and said, “Why don’t we just use a floo to see if he’s home?”

“Umbridge blocked all the floos,” said Hermione. 

“Not the one in her office!” said Harry triumphantly. 

“I’m not sure this is a good idea Harry,” said Hermione. 

“Please Hermione I have to know if he’s alright,” practically begged Harry. 

“Okay, but we need someone to stand guard.”

“I’ll do it!” volunteered Ginny. 

“It’s settled let’s go!” Harry set off at a brisk pace towards Umbridge’s office forcing the other two to break into a run to catch up.

———————————-

**_Umbridge’s POV_ **

‘ _ Hmph! Those Weasley twins will have detention with me for the rest of the year!’  _ Umbridge continued to think to herself about the type of punishment the twins should receive when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whirled around to face whoever had tapped her on the shoulder. 

“What is it?” she asked the boy standing in front of her. 

“I have some information that I think you would like to know,” said the blonde boy. 

“Well spit it out then!” she barked. 

“Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are running the Dumbledore’s Army to teach all the students how to fight!” Zacharias Smith finished looking proud. 

“In my school! I must find them at once!” she huffed and stormed off before looping back again. 

“Come with me,” she said to the blonde boy. 

———————————

**Harry’s POV**

But you know!” shouted Harry at the old house elf. “Don’t you? You know where he is!”

There was a moment’s silence, then the elf let out his loudest cackle yet. “Master will not come back from the Department of Mysteries!” he said gleefully. “Kreacher and his Mistress are alone again!”

And he scurried forward and disappeared through the door to the hall. 

“You — !”

But before he could utter a single curse or insult, Harry felt a great pain at the top of his head. He inhaled a lot of ash and, choking, found himself being dragged backward through the flames until, with a horrible abruptness, he was staring up into the wide, pallid face of Professor Umbridge, who had dragged him backward out of the fire by the hair and was now bending his neck back as far as it would go as though she was going to slit his throat.

“You think,” she whispered, bending Harry’s neck back even farther, so that he was looking up at the ceiling above him, “that after two nifflers I was going to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after the last one got in, you foolish boy. “

Take his wand,” she barked at someone he could not see, and he felt a hand grope inside the chest pocket of his robes and remove the wand. 

“Hers too . . .”

Harry heard a scuffle over by the door and knew that Hermione had just had her wand wrested from her as well.

“I want to know why you are in my office,” said Umbridge, shaking the fist clutching his hair so that he staggered.

“I was — trying to get my Firebolt!” Harry croaked.

“Liar.” She shook his head again. “Your Firebolt is under strict guard in the dungeons, as you very well know, Potter. You had your head in my fire. With whom have you been communicating?”

“No one —” said Harry, trying to pull away from her. He felt several hairs part company with his scalp.

“Liar!” shouted Umbridge. She threw him from her, and he slammed into the desk. Now he could see Hermione pinned against the wall by Millicent Bulstrode. Hermione to her credit didn’t look scared and actually looked quite enraged. Malfoy was leaning on the windowsill, smirking as he threw Harry’s wand into the air one-handed and then caught it again.

There was a commotion outside and several large Slytherins entered, each gripping Ginny and to Hermione and Harry’s shock they saw that they also had Ron, Luna, and Neville, who was trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe and looked in imminent danger of suffocation. All four of them had been gagged.

“Got ’em all,” said Warrington, shoving Ron roughly forward into the room. “That one.” he poked a thick finger at Neville, “tried to stop me taking her,” he pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the shins of the large Slytherin girl holding her, “so I brought him along too.”

“Good, good,” said Umbridge, watching Ginny’s struggles. “Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn’t it?”

Malfoy laughed loudly and sycophantically. Umbridge gave her wide, complacent smile and settled herself into a chintz-covered arm- chair, blinking up at her captives like a toad in a flowerbed.

“So, Potter,” she said. “You stationed lookouts around my office to tell you when I was coming. Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone. . . .”

Malfoy and a few of the other members of the Inquisitorial Squad laughed some more at that. Harry found he was so full of rage and hatred he was shaking.

“It’s none of your business who I talk to,” he snarled.

Umbridge’s slack face seemed to tighten.

“Very well,” she said in her most dangerous and falsely sweet voice.

“Very well, Mr. Potter . . . I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco — fetch Professor Snape.”

Malfoy stowed Harry’s wand inside his robes and left the room smirking, but Harry hardly noticed. He had just realized something; he could not believe he had been so stupid as to forget it. He had thought that all the members of the Order, all those who could help him save Sirius, were gone — but he had been wrong. There was still a member of the Order of the Phoenix at Hogwarts — Snape

There was silence in the office except for the fidgetings and scufflings resultant from the Slytherins’ efforts to keep Ron and the others under control. Ron’s lip was bleeding onto Umbridge’s carpet as he struggled against Warrington’s half nelson. Ginny was still trying to stamp on the feet of the sixth-year girl who had both her upper arms in a tight grip. Neville was turning steadily more purple in the face while tugging at Crabbe’s arms, and Hermione was attempting vainly to throw Millicent Bulstrode off her. Luna, however, stood limply by the side of her captor, gazing vaguely out of the window as though rather bored by the proceedings.

Harry looked back at Umbridge, who was watching him and Hermione closely. Hermione kept her face deliberately smooth and blank as footsteps were heard in the corridor outside and Draco Malfoy came back into the room, holding open the door for Snape.

“You wanted to see me, Headmistress?” said Snape, looking around at all the pairs of struggling students with an expression of complete indifference.

“Ah, Professor Snape,” said Umbridge, smiling widely and standing up again. “Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please.”

“You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter,” he said, observing her coolly through his greasy curtains of black hair. “Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient.”

Umbridge flushed.

“You can make some more, can’t you?” she said, her voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious.

“Certainly,” said Snape, his lip curling. “It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month.”

“A month?” squawked Umbridge, swelling toadishly. “A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!”

“Really?” said Snape, showing his first, faint sign of interest as he looked around at Harry. “Well, it doesn’t surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules.”

His cold, dark eyes were boring into Harry’s, who met his gaze unflinchingly, concentrating hard on what he had seen in his dream, willing Snape to read it in his mind, to understand . . .

“I wish to interrogate him!” shouted Umbridge angrily, and Snape looked away from Harry back into her furiously quivering face. “I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!”

“I have already told you,” said Snape smoothly, “that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter — and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did — I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling. . . .”

Snape looked back at Harry, who stared at him, frantic to communicate without words.

Voldemort’s got Sirius in the Department of Mysteries, he thought desperately. Voldemort’s got Sirius —

“You are on probation!” shrieked Professor Umbridge, and Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. “You are being delib- erately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!”

Snape gave her an ironic bow and turned to leave. Harry knew his last chance of letting the Order know what was going on was walking out of the door.

“He’s got Padfoot!” he shouted. “He’s got Padfoot at the place where it’s hidden!”

Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridge’s door handle.

“Padfoot?” cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly from Harry to Snape. “What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?”

“I have no idea,” said Snape coldly. “Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a job.”

He closed the door behind him with a snap, leaving Harry in a state of worse turmoil than before: Snape had been his very last hope. He looked at Umbridge, who seemed to be feeling the same way; her chest was heaving with rage and frustration.

“Very well,” she said, and she pulled out her wand. “Very well . . . I am left with no alternative. . . . This is more than a matter of school discipline. . . . This is an issue of Ministry security. . . . Yes . . . yes . . .”

She seemed to be talking herself into something. She was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot, staring at Harry, beating her wand against her empty palm and breathing heavily. Harry felt horri- bly powerless without his own wand as he watched her.

“You are forcing me, Potter. . . . I do not want to,” said Umbridge, still moving restlessly on the spot, “but sometimes circumstances justify the use . . . I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice. . . .”

Malfoy was watching her with a hungry expression on his face.

“The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue,” said Umbridge quietly.

“No!” shrieked Hermione. “Professor Umbridge — it’s illegal” — but Umbridge took no notice. There was a nasty, eager, excited look on her face that Harry had never seen before. She raised her wand.

“The Minister wouldn’t want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!” cried Hermione desperately as she knew what damage could come from the curse. 

“What Cornelius doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Harry’s body in turn, apparently trying to decide what would hurt the most. 

“He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same. . . .”

“It was you?” gasped Harry. “You sent the dementors after me?”

“Somebody had to act,” breathed Umbridge, as her wand came to rest pointing directly at Harry’s forehead. “They were all bleating about silencing you somehow — discrediting you — but I was the one who actually did something about it. . . . Only you wriggled out of that one, didn’t you, Potter? Not today, though, not now . . .”

And taking a deep breath, she cried, “ _ Cruc _ —”

“NO!” shouted Hermione in a cracked voice from behind Millicent Bulstrode. “No — Harry — Harry, we’ll have to tell her!”

“No way!” yelled Harry, staring at the little of Hermione he could see.

“We’ll have to, Harry, she’ll force it out of you anyway, what’s . . . what’s the point. . . ?”

And Hermione began to fake cry into the back of Millicent Bulstrode’s robes. Millicent stopped trying to squash her against the wall immediately and dodged out of her way looking disgusted.

“Well, well, well!” said Umbridge, looking triumphant. “Little Miss Question-All is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!”

“Er — my — nee — no!” shouted Neville through his gag.

Ginny was staring at Hermione as though she had never seen her before; Neville, still choking for breath, was gazing at her too. But Harry had just noticed something. Though Hermione was sobbing desperately into her hands, there was no trace of a tear. . . .

“I’m — I’m sorry everyone,” said Hermione. “But — I can’t stand it —”

“That’s right, that’s right, girl!” said Umbridge, seizing Hermione by the shoulders, thrusting her into the abandoned chair and leaning over her. 

“Now then . . . with whom was Potter communicating just now?”

“Well,” gulped Hermione into her hands, “well, he was trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore. . .”

Ron froze, his eyes wide; Ginny stopped trying to stamp on her Slytherin captor’s toes; even Luna looked mildly surprised. Fortunately, the attention of Umbridge and her minions was focused too exclusively upon Hermione to notice these suspicious signs.

“Dumbledore?” said Umbridge eagerly. “You know where Dumbledore is, then?”

“Well . . . no!” sobbed Hermione. “We’ve tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog’s Head —”

“Idiot girl, Dumbledore won’t be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry’s looking for him!” shouted Umbridge, disappointment etched in every sagging line of her face.

“But — but we needed to tell him something important!” wailed Hermione, holding her hands more tightly over her face, not, Harry knew, out of anguish, but to disguise the continued absence of tears.

“Yes?” said Umbridge with a sudden resurgence of excitement. “What was it you wanted to tell him?”

“We . . . we wanted to tell him it’s r-ready!” choked Hermione. 

“What’s ready?” demanded Umbridge, and now she grabbed Hermione’s shoulders again and shook her slightly. “What’s ready, girl?”

“The . . . the weapon,” said Hermione.

“Weapon? Weapon?” said Umbridge, and her eyes seemed to pop with excitement. “You have been developing some method of resistance? A weapon you could use against the Ministry? On Professor Dumbledore’s orders, of course?” 

“Y-y-yes,” gasped Hermione. “But he had to leave before it was fin- ished and n-n-now we’ve finished it for him, and we c-c-can’t find him t-t-to tell him!”

“What kind of weapon is it?” said Umbridge harshly, her stubby hands still tight on Hermione’s shoulders.

“We don’t r-r-really understand it,” said Hermione, sniffing loudly. “We j-j-just did what P-P-Professor Dumbledore told us t-t-to do . . .”

Umbridge straightened up, looking exultant.

“Lead me to the weapon,” she said.

“I’m not showing . . . them,” said Hermione shrilly, looking around at the Slytherins through her fingers.

“It is not for you to set conditions,” said Professor Umbridge harshly.

“Fine,” said Hermione, now sobbing into her hands again, “fine

. . . let them see it, I hope they use it on you! In fact, I wish you’d invite loads and loads of people to come and see! Th-that would serve you right — oh, I’d love it if the wh-whole school knew where it was, and how to u-use it, and then if you annoy any of them they’ll be able to s-sort you out!”

These words had a powerful impact on Umbridge. She glanced swiftly and suspiciously around at her Inquisitorial Squad, her bulging eyes resting for a moment on Malfoy, who was too slow to disguise the look of eagerness and greed that had appeared on his face.

Umbridge contemplated Hermione for another long moment and then spoke in what she clearly thought was a motherly voice. 

“All right, dear, let’s make it just you and me . . . and we’ll take Potter too, shall we? Get up, now —”

“Professor,” said Malfoy eagerly, “Professor Umbridge, I think some of the squad should come with you to look after —”

“I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers alone?” asked Umbridge sharply. “In any case, it does not sound as though this weapon is something that schoolchildren should see. You will remain here until I return and make sure none of these” — she gestured around at Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna — “escape.”

“All right,” said Malfoy, looking sulky and disappointed.

“And you two can go ahead of me and show me the way,” said Umbridge, pointing at Harry and Hermione with her wand. “Lead on. . . .”

——————————-

**Hermione’s POV**

Hermione led the way down the stairs into the entrance hall. The din of loud voices and the clatter of cutlery on plates echoed from out of the double doors to the Great Hall. It seemed incredible to Hermione that twenty feet away were people who were enjoying dinner, celebrating the end of exams, not a care in the world. . . .

Hermione walked straight out of the oak front doors and down the stone steps into the balmy evening air. The sun was falling toward the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest now as Hermione marched purposefully across the grass, Umbridge jogging to keep up. Their long dark shadows rippled over the grass behind them like cloaks.

“It’s hidden in Hagrid’s hut, is it?” said Umbridge eagerly in Harry’s ear.

“Of course not,” said Hermione scathingly. 

“Hagrid might have set it off accidentally.”

“Yes,” said Umbridge, whose excitement seemed to be mounting. “Yes, he would have done, of course, the great half-breed oaf. . . .”

She laughed. Hermione felt a surge of rage but continued walking towards the forest. 

“Then . . . where is it?” asked Umbridge, with a hint of uncertainty in her voice as Hermione continued to stride toward the forest.

“In there, of course,” said Hermione, pointing into the dark trees. “It had to be somewhere that students weren’t going to find it accidentally, didn’t it?”

“Of course,” said Umbridge, though she sounded a little apprehen- sive now. “Of course . . . very well, then . . . you two stay ahead of me.”

“Can we have your wand, then, if we’re going first?” Harry asked her.

“No, I don’t think so, Mr. Potter,” said Umbridge sweetly, poking him in the back with it. “The Ministry places a rather higher value on my life than yours, I’m afraid.”

As they reached the cool shade of the first trees, Harry tried to catch Hermione’s eye; walking into the forest without wands seemed to him to be more foolhardy than anything they had done so far this evening. She, however, merely gave Umbridge a contemptuous glance and plunged straight into the trees, moving at such a pace that Umbridge, with her shorter legs, had difficulty in keeping up.

“Is it very far in?” Umbridge asked, as her robe ripped on a bramble. 

“Oh yes,” said Hermione. “Yes, it’s well hidden.”

Hermione was not taking the path they had followed to visit Grawp, but the one that the boys had followed three years ago to the lair of the monster Aragog. Hermione had not been with them on that occasion so she had to figure it out from the stories the boys told. 

“Er — are you sure this is the right way?” Harry asked her pointedly.

“Oh yes,” she said in a steely voice, crashing through the undergrowth with what he thought was a wholly unnecessary amount of noise. Behind them, Umbridge tripped over a fallen sapling. Neither of them paused to help her up again; Hermione merely strode on, calling loudly over her shoulder, “It’s a bit further in!”

“Hermione, keep your voice down,” Harry muttered, hurrying to catch up with her. “Anything could be listening in here —”

“I want us heard,” she answered quietly, as Umbridge jogged noisily after them. “You’ll see why in a moment.”

They walked on for what seemed a long time, until they were once again so deep into the forest that the dense tree canopy blocked out all light. 

“How much further?” demanded Umbridge angrily from behind him.

“Not far now!” shouted Hermione, as they emerged into a dim, dank clearing. “Just a little bit —”

An arrow flew through the air and landed with a menacing thud in the tree just over her head. The air was suddenly full of the sound of hooves. Hermione could feel the forest floor trembling; Umbridge gave a little scream and pushed Harry in front of her like a shield —

Hermione watched as he wrenched himself free of her and turned. Around fifty centaurs were emerging on every side, their bows raised and loaded, pointing at Harry, Hermione, and Umbridge, who backed slowly into the center of the clearing, Umbridge uttering odd little whimpers of terror. Hermione was wearing a triumphant smile. 

“Who are you?” said a voice.

Hermione looked left. The chestnut-bodied centaur called Magorian was walking toward them out of the circle; his bow, like the others’, was raised. On Harry’s right, Umbridge was still whimpering, her wand trembling violently as she pointed it at the advancing centaur.

“I asked you who you are, human,” said Magorian roughly.

“I am Dolores Umbridge!” said Umbridge in a high-pitched, terrified voice. “Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic and Head- mistress and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts!”

“You are from the Ministry of Magic?” said Magorian, as many of the centaurs in the surrounding circle shifted restlessly.

“That’s right!” said Umbridge in an even higher voice. “So be very careful! By the laws laid down by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, any attack by half-breeds such as yourselves on a human —”

“What did you call us?” shouted a wild-looking black centaur, whom Hermione recognized as Bane. There was a great deal of angry muttering and tightening of bowstrings around them.

“Don’t call them that!” Hermione said furiously, but Umbridge did not appear to have heard her. Still pointing her shaking wand at Magorian, she continued, “Law Fifteen B states clearly that ‘Any at- tack by a magical creature who is deemed to have near-human intelligence, and therefore considered responsible for its actions —’ ”

“ ‘Near-human intelligence’?” repeated Magorian, as Bane and several others roared with rage and pawed the ground. “We consider that a great insult, human! Our intelligence, thankfully, far outstrips your own —”

“What are you doing in our forest?” bellowed the hard-faced gray centaur whom Harry and Hermione had seen on their last trip into the forest. “Why are you here?”

“Your forest?” said Umbridge, shaking now not only with fright but also, it seemed, with indignation. “I would remind you that you live here only because the Ministry of Magic permits you certain areas of land —”

An arrow flew so close to her head that it caught at her mousy hair in passing. She let out an ear splitting scream and threw her hands over her head while some of the centaurs bellowed their approval and others laughed raucously. The sound of their wild, neighing laughter echoing around the dimly lit clearing and the sight of their pawing hooves was extremely unnerving.

“Whose forest is it now, human?” bellowed Bane.

“Filthy half-breeds!” she screamed, her hands still tight over her head. “Beasts! Uncontrolled animals!”

“Be quiet!” shouted Hermione, but it was too late — Umbridge pointed her wand at Magorian and screamed, “ _ Incarcerous! _ ”

Ropes flew out of midair like thick snakes, wrapping themselves tightly around the centaur’s torso and trapping his arms. He gave a cry of rage and reared onto his hind legs, attempting to free himself, while the other centaurs charged.

Harry grabbed Hermione and pulled her to the ground. Facedown on the forest floor they lay paralyzed in a moment of terror as hooves thundered around them, but the centaurs leapt over and around them, bellowing and screaming with rage.

“Nooooo!” he heard Umbridge shriek. “Noooooo . . . I am Senior Undersecretary . . . you cannot . . . unhand me, you animals . . . nooooo!”

Umbridge continued to scream as she was dragged off into the distance by the herd of centaurs. Harry looked at Hermione with disbelief etched into his face. 

“How did you know that was going to work?” asked Harry, staring at Hermione in awe. 

“I didn’t,” she simply stated. 

“Wait so you led us out into the middle of the Forbidden Forest and didn’t even know if this was going to work?!”

“What else did you want me to do? I wasn’t going to sit by and watch you get tortured!” huffed Hermione as she walked back to the castle with Harry in tow. It was silent for a couple of minutes before Harry spoke. 

Harry stopped walking. “I guess you're right. I probably would have done something to stop you from being tortured.” Harry rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. 

“Well, we can’t do anything without wands,” said Hermione hopelessly, dragging herself up again. “Anyway, Harry, how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?”

“Yeah, we were just wondering that,” said a familiar voice from behind her.

Harry and Hermione moved instinctively together, peering through the trees, as Ginny came into sight, with Ron, Neville, and Luna hurrying along behind him. All of them looked a little the worse for wear — there were several long scratches running the length of Ginny’s cheek, a large purple lump was swelling above Neville’s right eye, Ron’s lip was bleeding worse than ever — but all were looking rather pleased with themselves.

“So,” said Ginny, pushing aside a low-hanging branch and holding out Harry’s wand, “had any ideas?”

“How did you get away?” asked Harry in amazement, taking his wand from Ginny.

“Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx,” said Ginny airily, now handing back Hermione’s wand too. “I got Malfoy with a Bat- Bogey Hex. It was awesome , his whole face was covered in the great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What’ve you done with Umbridge?”

“She got carried away,” said Harry. “By a herd of centaurs.” 

“And they left you behind?” asked Ginny, looking astonished. 

“Yeah I’m not quite sure why though,” said Harry.

“Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or — ?”

“Yes,” said Harry, as his scar gave another painful prickle, “and I’m sure Sirius is still alive, but I can’t see how we’re going to get there to help him.”

They all fell silent, looking rather scared. The problem facing them seemed insurmountable.

“Well, we’ll have to fly, won’t we?” said Luna in the closest thing to a matter-of-fact voice Harry had ever heard her use.

“Okay,” said Harry irritably, rounding on her, “first of all, ‘we’ aren’t doing anything if you’re including yourself in that, and second of all, Ron’s the only one with a broomstick that isn’t being guarded by a security troll, so —”

“I’ve got a broom!” said Ginny.

“Yeah, but you’re not coming,” said Ron angrily.

“Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!” said Ginny, her jaw set so that her resemblance to Fred and George was suddenly striking.

“You’re too —” Harry began.

“I’m three years older than you were when you fought You-Know- Who over the Sorcerer’s Stone,” she said fiercely, “and it’s because of me Malfoy’s stuck back in Umbridge’s office with giant flying bogeys attacking him —”

“Yeah, but —”

“We were all in the D.A. together,” said Neville quietly. “It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn’t it? And this is the first chance we’ve had to do something real — or was that all just a game or something?”

“No — of course it wasn’t —” said Harry impatiently.

“Then we should come too,” said Neville simply. “We want to help.” 

“That’s right,” said Luna, smiling happily.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway,” said Harry frustratedly, “because we still don’t know how to get there —”

“I thought we’d settled that?” said Luna maddeningly. “We’re flying!”

“Look,” said Ron, barely containing his anger, “you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can’t sprout wings whenever we —”

“There are other ways of flying than with broomsticks,” said Luna serenely.

“I s’pose we’re going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever it is?” Ron demanded.

“The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can’t fly,” said Luna in a dignified voice, “but they can, and Hagrid says they’re very good at finding places their riders are looking for.”

Hermione whirled around to look where Luna was gesturing to and saw nothing. Only seen by Luna and Harry were two thestrals, standing between two trees, their white eyes gleaming eerily, watching the whispered conversation as though they understood every word.

“Yes!” Harry whispered, moving toward them. They tossed their reptilian heads, throwing back long black manes, and Harry stretched out his hand eagerly and patted the nearest one’s shining neck.

“Is it those mad horse things?” said Ron uncertainly, staring at a point slightly to the left of the thestral Harry was patting. “Those ones you can’t see unless you’ve watched someone snuff it?”

“Yeah,” said Harry.

“How many?”

“Just two.”

“Well, we need three,” said Hermione determinedly. 

“Four, Hermione,” said Ginny, scowling.

“I think there are six of us, actually,” said Luna calmly, counting. 

“Don’t be stupid, we can’t all go!” said Harry angrily. “Look, you three” — he pointed at Neville ,Ron, and Luna — “you’re not involved in this, you’re not —”

“Okay, fine, it’s your choice,” he said curtly. “But unless we can find more thestrals you’re not going to be able —”

“Oh, more of them will come,” said Ginny confidently, who like Ron was squinting in quite the wrong direction, apparently under the impression that she was looking at the horses.

“What makes you think that?”

“Because it’s what Luna said that they know when a rider needs them,” she said coolly. 

“Okay, then,” he said, a bright idea occurring. “Ron and I will take these two and go ahead-”

“I’m not staying behind!” said Hermione furiously.

“There’s no need,” said Luna, smiling. “Look, here come more now. . . . ”

Hermione turned, but again could see nothing. Unseen by her no fewer than six or seven thestrals were picking their way through the trees now, their great leathery wings folded tight to their bodies, their eyes gleaming through the darkness. Harry had no excuse now. . . .

“All right,” he sighed defeatedly, “pick one and get on, then.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

Hermione placed her hand firmly on the mane of the nearest thestral, placed a foot on a stump nearby, and lept up gracefully onto the horse’s smooth back. It did not object, but it snorted at her causing her to jump. 

She found there was a way of lodging her knees behind the wing joints that made her feel more secure and looked around at the others. Harry was on the back of his steed already. He looked slightly uncomfortable but nevertheless ready to find Sirius. Neville had heaved himself over the back of the next thestral and was now attempting to swing one short leg over the creature’s back. Luna was already in place, sitting side saddle and adjusting her robes as though she did this every day. Ron, and Ginny, however, were still standing motionless on the spot, open mouthed and staring.

“What?” she said.

“How’re we supposed to get on?” said Ron faintly. “When we can’t see the things?”

“I’m sure you can figure it out since Neville and I could,” said Hermione scathingly to Ron. She normally wouldn’t have talked to Ron that way, but she was still mad at him for the way he talked to her earlier. 

Just as Ron was about to respond Luna butted in. 

“Oh it’s easy,” said Luna, sliding obligingly from her thestral and marching over to him and Ginny. “Come here.”

She pulled them over to the other thestrals standing around and one by one managed to help them onto the backs of their mounts. All three looked extremely nervous as she wound their hands into the horses’ manes and told them to grip tightly before getting back onto her own steed.

“This is mad,” Ron said faintly, moving his free hand gingerly up and down his horse’s neck. “Mad . . . if I could just see it —”

“You’d better hope it stays invisible,” said Harry darkly. “We're all ready, then?”

They all nodded and Hermione saw five pairs of knees tighten beneath their robes.

“Okay . . .”

She looked down at around where she thought the back of her thestral’s head was and swallowed. She looked up at Harry when he began to speak. 

“Ministry of Magic, visitors’ entrance, London, then,” Harry said uncertainly. “Er . . . if you know . . . where to go . . .”

For a moment their thestrals did nothing at all. Then, with a sweeping movement that nearly unseated her, the wings on either side extended, the horse crouched slowly and then rocketed upward so fast and so steeply that Hermione had to clench her arms and legs tightly around the horse like creature to avoid sliding backward over its bony rump. She closed her eyes and put her face down into the horse’s silky mane as they burst through the topmost branches of the trees and soared out into a blood red sunset.

Hermione did not think she had ever moved so fast: The thestral streaked over the castle, its wide wings hardly beating. The cooling air was whipping wind into her face; eyes screwed up against the rushing wind, she looked around and saw her five friends soaring along behind her, each of them bent as low as possible into the neck of their thestral to protect themselves from its slipstream.

They were over the Hogwarts grounds, they had passed Hogsmeade. Hermione could see mountains and gullies below them. Shortly after the thestrals took off the sun set and darkness settled on the group as they flew towards the ministry. 

——————————

About half an hour into the ride Hermione’s stomach gave a jolt. The thestral was suddenly plummeting towards the ground and she had actually slid forward a few inches along its neck. They were at the Ministry at last. She heard one of the girls shriek behind her (well it may have been Ron) and twisted around dangerously but could see no sign of a falling body. Presumably they had received a shock from the change of position, just as she had.

And now bright orange lights were growing larger and rounder on all sides. They could see the tops of buildings, streams of headlights like luminous insect eyes, squares of pale yellow that were windows. Quite suddenly, it seemed, they were hurtling toward the pavement. Hermione gripped the thestral with every last ounce of her strength, braced for a sudden impact, but the horse touched the dark ground as lightly as a shadow and Hermione quickly slid from the therestral’s back, looking around at the street where the overflowing dumpster still stood a short way from the vandalized telephone box, both drained of color in the flat orange glare of the streetlights.

Ron landed a short way away and immediately toppled off his thestral onto the pavement.

“Never again,” he said, struggling to his feet. He made as though to stride away from his thestral, but, unable to see it, collided with its hindquarters and almost fell over again. “Never, ever again . . . that was the worst —”

Harry and Ginny touched down on either side of him. Both slid off their mounts a little more gracefully than Ron, though with similar expressions of relief at being back on firm ground. Neville jumped down, shaking, but Luna dismounted smoothly.

“Where do we go from here, then?” she asked Harry in a politely interested voice, as though this was all a rather interesting day-trip. 

“Over here,” he said. He gave his thestral a quick pat, then led the way quickly to the battered telephone box and opened the door. “Come on!” he urged the others as they hesitated.

Ron and Ginny marched in obediently; Hermione, Neville, and Luna squashed themselves in after them; Hermione took one last glance back at where they left the thestrals, unseen by her they were now foraging for scraps of rotten food inside the dumpster, the the telephone box door closed. 

“Whoever’s nearest the receiver, dial six two four four two!” Harry said.

Ron did it, his arm bent bizarrely to reach the dial. As it whirred back into place the cool female voice sounded inside the box, “Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business.”

“Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger,” Harry said very quickly, “Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood . . . We’re here to save someone, unless your Ministry can do it first!”

“Thank you,” said the cool female voice. “Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes.”

Half a dozen badges slid out of the metal chute where returned coins usually appeared. Hermione scooped them up and handed them mutely to Harry over Ginny’s head; Hermione glanced at the badge before pinning it on her robes. 

**Hermione Granger**

Rescue Mission

“Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium.”

“Fine!” Harry said impatiently. “Now can we move?”

The floor of the telephone box shuddered and the pavement rose up past the glass windows of the telephone box. The scavenging thestrals were sliding out of sight, blackness closed over their heads, and with a dull grinding noise they sank down into the depths of the Ministry of Magic.

A chink of soft golden light hit their feet and, widening, rose up their bodies. Hermione bent her knees and held her wand as ready as she could in such cramped conditions, peering through the glass to see whether anybody was waiting for them in the Atrium, but it seemed to be completely empty. The light was dimmer than it had been by day. There were no fires burning under the mantelpieces set into the walls, but he saw as the lift slid smoothly to a halt that golden symbols continued to twist sinuously in the dark blue ceiling.

“The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening,” said the woman’s voice.

The door of the telephone box burst open; Harry toppled out of it, quickly followed by the others. The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain, where jets from the wands of the witch and wizard, the point of the centaur’s arrow, the tip of the goblin’s hat, and the house-elf’s ears continued to gush into the surrounding pool.

“Come on,” said Harry quietly and the six of them sprinted off down the hall, Harry in the lead, past the fountain, toward the desk where the security man who was supposed to weigh their wands sat and which was now deserted.

Hermione felt sure that there ought to be a security person there, sure that their absence was an ominous sign, and her feeling of foreboding increased as they passed through the golden gates to the lifts. 

Harry pressed the nearest down button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden doors slid apart with a great, echoing clanking, and they dashed inside. Harry stabbed the number nine button, the grilles closed with a bang, and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling. Hermione was sure that the din would raise every security person within the building, yet when the lift halted, the cool female voice said, “Department of Mysteries,” and the doors slid open again, they stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.

Harry turned toward a plain black door. 

“Let’s go,” he whispered, and he led the way down the corridor, Luna right behind him, gazing around with her mouth slightly open.

“Okay, listen,” said Harry, stopping again within six feet of the door. “Maybe . . . maybe a couple of people should stay here as a — as a lookout, and —”

“And how’re we going to let you know something’s coming?” asked Hermione, her eyebrow raised. “You could be miles away.”

“We’re coming with you, Harry,” said Neville.

“Let’s get on with it,” said Ginny firmly.

Harry turned to face the door and walked forward. They were standing in a large room if you could even call it that as it was closer to the size of a small house. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling. There were rows and rows of shelves. Every shelf was filled from the ceiling to the floor with blue-white spheres. 

“Someone shut the door,” Harry muttered.

Neville shut the door and Hermione winced when it closed as she heard the door click shut. 

Locking them in the room. 

—————————

“He's in here. Be ready for a fight,”whisper yelled Harry. 

Hermione tightened her hold on her wand and mentally went through the list of defensive and offensive spells she knew. She could feel the nerves building up as they walked slowly through the shelves. Harry began to pick up the speed muttering,“ninety-five...ninety-six… ninety-seven!”

The group of students ran down the row. Harry stopped in front of a glowing sphere. 

“He should be right here! This is where I saw him in my dream!” Harry began to pace around desperate to find his godfather. 

“Harry look! This one has your name on it!” said Ginny gesturing to the sphere in front of her. 

Harry walked over and looked at the sphere before reaching out to pick it up. 

“Harry, wait!” shouted Hermione desperately. “We don’t know if it’s safe to touch.”

Harry even though he heard Hermione continued to reach for the prophecy. Just as Harry’s fingers wrapped around the prophecy and he lifted it from the shelf a deep drawling voice was heard. 

“Very good Potter. Now hand me the prophecy.”

————————————

  
  


Hermione froze and slowly turned around to face Lucius Malfoy and a group of death eaters. Hermione’s stomach sank as she knew there would be no easy way out of this situation. 

“To me, Potter,” repeated the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as he held out his hand, palm up. 

They were trapped and outnumbered two to one.

“To me,” said Malfoy yet again.

“Where’s Sirius?” Harry said.

Several of the Death Eaters laughed. A distinctly feminine voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to Harry’s left stepped forward into the light and said triumphantly, “The Dark Lord always knows!”

Hermione’s eyes widened with shock and she stood mute and mouth agape. Her love was wearing her usual corset dress, but her hair was much wilder than usual, her teeth dirtier, she had an expression of haughtiness, and a crazed glint in her eye. 

“Always,” echoed Malfoy softly. “Now, give me the prophecy, Potter.”

Neville muttered, “Bellatrix Black.”

Bellatrix looked at him like they were old acquaintances said,“Neville Longbottom. How’s Mum and Dad? Have they been talking much?”

Neville let out an enraged shout and attempted to charge the dark witch only to be stopped by Luna, Ginny, and Ron holding him back. Bella let out a gleeful shout when Neville attempted to charge her. Hermione felt sick to her stomach as she heard the things Bella said and had to physically look away from the scene. 

Bella let out her signature cackle and looked as if she was going to tease Neville some more before Harry began to shout. 

“I want to know where Sirius is!” yelled Harry. 

“I want to know where Sirius is!” mimicked Bellatrix. She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that they were mere feet away from Hermione and the others.

“You’ve got him,” said Harry, looking panicked. “He’s here. I know he is.”

“The little baby woke up fwightened and thowt what it dweamed was twoo,” said Bella in a horrible, mock-baby voice. 

Hermione shook herself out of her stupor and finally locked eyes with Bella and they stood for a second staring at each other. Hermione could see that Bella looked just as shocked to see her there as Hermione was shocked to see Bella. 

Hermione felt Ginny stir beside her. Ginny nudged her shoulder as the redhead had noticed the stares between the two. Before Hermione could say anything to Ginny, Harry began to speak. 

“Don’t do anything,” Harry muttered to the group. “Not yet —”

Bellatrix let out a cackle of laughter.

“You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!” she finished her rant with a cackle. 

“Oh, you don’t know Potter as I do, Bellatrix,” said Malfoy softly. “He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter.”

“I know Sirius is here,” said Harry. “I know you’ve got him!”

More of the Death Eaters laughed, though Bella still laughed loudest of all.

Hermione had a hard time seeing her love act the way she was. Hermione watched her with an expression of sadness even though she knew that Bella was working for the order it didn’t make it any easier to watch. 

“It’s time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter,” said Malfoy. “Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands.”

“Go on, then,” said Harry, raising his own wand to chest height. As he did so, the five wands of Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna rose on either side of him.

But the Death Eaters did not strike.

“Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt,” said Malfoy coolly.

It was Harry’s turn to laugh.

“Yeah, right!” he said. “I give you this — prophecy, is it? And you’ll just let us skip off home, will you?”

The words were hardly out of his mouth when Bella shrieked, “Accio Proph —”

Harry was just ready for her. He shouted “Protego!” before she had finished her spell, and though the glass sphere slipped to the tips of his fingers he managed to cling on to it.

“Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter,” she said, her wild eyes stared through him. “Very well, then —”

“I TOLD YOU, NO!” Lucius Malfoy roared at the woman. “If you smash it — !”

Hermione’s mind was racing as her eyes stayed locked on Bellatrix. ‘ _ Why is Bella doing this? Why is she using spells against us? IS she trying to hurt us? No of course not! Don’t be ridiculous Hermione! She would never. She is loyal to the order!’ _

“You need more persuasion?” Bella said, her chest rising and falling rapidly causing Hermione to lose her attention for a second. “Very well — take the smallest one,” she ordered the Death Eaters beside her. “Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I’ll do it.”

Hermione felt the others close in around Ginny. She stepped forward so that she was right in front of the entire group standing next to Harry. She turned so that she faced Bella. 

“You’ll have to kill me if you want to attack any of us,” Hermione told Bellatrix.

She did not move; she merely stared at Hermione, the tip of her tongue moistening her dark red lips. 

Ginny, even though she was hidden in the circle of her friends, could clearly see the tension between the two witches and wondered what was going on between the two of them. 

“Why are you hesitating?! She’s just a mudblood! Kill her Black!” shouted Malfoy. 

Bella whipped around so that she was facing the blonde man. Her wand was already drawn when she faced him and shot a spell at Lucius’ feet, just barely missing him, causing him to yelp. 

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Lucius,” she spat scathingly. “Or next time I won’t miss.”

Lucius opened his mouth with a look of terror on his face and tried to speak but nothing came out. 

Bella cackled at his response or more accurately lack of response and was about to tease him when she was interrupted. 

“So,” butted in Harry stupidly, “what kind of prophecy are we talking about anyway?”

What kind of prophecy?” repeated Bellatrix, the anger fading from her face and being replaced with bewilderment. “You jest, Harry Potter.”

“Nope, not jesting,” said Harry, his eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death Eater. “How come Voldemort wants it?”

Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.

“You dare speak his name?” whispered Bellatrix.

“Yeah,” said Harry. “Yeah, I’ve got no problem saying Vol —”

“Shut your mouth!” Bellatrix shrieked, waving her wand around wildly. “You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood’s tongue, you dare —”

“Did you know he’s a half-blood too?” said Harry recklessly. 

Hermione gave a little groan at his stupidity. 

“Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle — or has he been telling you lot he’s pureblood?”

“ _ STUPEF _ —” screeched Bellatrix. 

“NO!” yelled Malfoy. 

A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Black’s wand, but Malfoy had deflected it. His spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered.

“DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!”

“He dared — he dares —” shrieked Bellatrix incoherently. “— He stands there — filthy half-blood —”

“WAIT UNTIL WE’VE GOT THE PROPHECY!” yelled Malfoy. 

Nothing remained of them or their erstwhile homes but fragments of glass upon the floor. They had, however, given Harry an idea. The problem was going to be conveying it to the others.

“You haven’t told me what’s so special about this prophecy I’m supposed to be handing over,” he said, playing for time. He moved his foot slowly sideways, feeling around for someone else’s.

“Do not play games with us, Potter,” said Malfoy.

“I’m not playing games,” said Harry, half his mind on the conversation, half on his wandering foot. And then he found someone’s toes and pressed down upon them. A sharp intake of breath behind him told him they were Hermione’s.

“What?” she whispered in a concerned tone. 

“Dumbledore never told you that the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?” said Malfoy sneeringly.

“I — what?” said Harry. “What about my scar?”

“What?” whispered Hermione more urgently behind him. 

“Can this be?” said Malfoy, sounding maliciously delighted; some of the Death Eaters were laughing again, and under cover of their laughter, Harry hissed to Hermione, moving his lips as little as possible, “Smash shelves —”

“Dumbledore never told you?” Malfoy repeated. “Well, this explains why you didn’t come earlier, Potter, the Dark Lord wondered why —”

“— when I say go —”

“— you didn’t come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording.”

“Did he?” said Harry. Behind him Hermione passed his message to the others and Harry continued to keep talking, to distract the Death Eaters. “So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? Why?”

“Why?” Malfoy sounded incredulously delighted. “Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him.”

“And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?”

“About both of you, Potter, about both of you. Haven’t you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?”

“Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?” he said quietly. “And he’s made me come and get it for him? Why couldn’t he come and get it himself?”

“Get it himself?” shrieked Bellatrix with a cackle of mad laughter. “The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?”

“So he’s got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?” said Harry. “Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it — and Bode?”

“Very good, Potter, very good,” said Malfoy slowly. “But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintelli —”

“NOW!” yelled Harry.

Five different voices behind him bellowed “ _ REDUCTO _ !” Five curses flew in five different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit. The towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor —

“RUN!” Harry yelled, and as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to pour from above, Hermione seized a handful of Neville’s robes and dragged him forward, one arm over her head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them. 

A Death Eater lunged forward through the cloud of dust and Hermione elbowed him hard in the masked face. The Death Eaters were all yelling, there were cries of pain, thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves. Hermione hoped silently that Bella didn’t get hurt in the chaos before looking for a way out. 

Hermione found the way ahead clear and saw Ron, Ginny, and Luna sprint past her, their arms over their heads. Harry had caught up with Hermione and Neville and was running next to them. Something heavy struck Hermione on the side of the face but she merely ducked her head and sprinted onward; a hand caught Harry by the shoulder and Hermione shouted “ _ Stupefy _ !” 

The hand released Harry at once and they began to run even faster than before. 

They were at the end of row ninety-seven; they turned right and began to sprint in earnest. Hermione could hear footsteps right behind them and she began to urge Neville on. The door through which they had come was ajar straight ahead, Hermione pelted through it and waited for the others to hurdle over the threshold before slamming the door behind them —

“ _ Colloportus _ !” gasped Hermione and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.

“Where — where are the others?” gasped Harry.

Hermione had thought that Ron, Luna, and Ginny had been ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there.

“They must have gone the wrong way!” whispered Hermione, terror in her face.

“Listen!” whispered Neville.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door they had just sealed. Hermione put her ear close to the door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar: “Leave Nott, leave him, I say, the Dark Lord will not care for Nott’s injuries as much as losing that prophecy — Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We’ll split into pairs and search, and don’t forget, be gentle with Potter until we’ve got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary — Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left, Crabbe, Rabastan, go right — Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead — Macnair and Avery, through here — Rookwood, over there — Mulciber, come with me!”

“What do we do?” Hermione asked Harry. 

“Well, we don’t stand here waiting for them to find us, for a start,” said Harry. “Let’s get out of this room.”

They ran, quietly as they could, out of the room into a smaller room filled with all sorts of items. Hermione spotted a door leading to the exit and the group began to make their way to the door. They were almost there when Hermione heard something large and heavy collide with the door that she had charmed shut.

“Stand aside!” said a rough voice. “ _ Alohomora _ !”

As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione, and Neville dived under desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters’ robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

“They might’ve run straight through to the hall,” said the rough voice.

“Check under the desks,” said another.

Harry poked his wand out from under the desk and he shouted, “ _ STUPEFY _ !”

A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backward into a grandfather clock and knocked it over. The second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid Harry’s spell and now pointed his own wand at Hermione, who had crawled out from under the desk to get a better aim.

“ _ Avada _ —”

Hermione’s eyes widened and she braced herself for the impact. 

Harry saw what was happening and launched himself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned his desk in his anxiety to help; pointing his wand wildly at the struggling pair he cried,“ _ EXPELLIARMUS _ !”

Both Harry’s and the Death Eater’s wands flew out of their hands and soared back toward the entrance to the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to their feet and charged after them, the Death Eater in front and Harry hot on his heels, Neville bringing up the rear, plainly horror struck at what he had done.

“Get out of the way, Harry!” yelled Neville, clearly determined to repair the damage.

Harry flung himself sideways as Neville took aim again and shouted, “ _ STUPEFY _ !”

Neville hit the Death Eater and he went flying across the room and hit the wall with a sickening thud. Neville looked like he was going to throw up from what he had just done. 

“Neville, Harry, we have to go! The noise likely caught the attention of some of the other Death Eaters.”

Harry scrambled to grab his wand and Neville got up and stood by Hermione. Together they ran out of the room and into another room. In the room two more Death Eaters were waiting for them. Hermione lifted her wand and shouted,“ _ STUPIFY _ !”

One of the masked figures flew into the wall and did not move after the impact. Catching Hermione off guard, a spell she had never seen before shot out of the end of Dolohov’s wand and hit Hermione full force in the chest. Hermione’s eyes widened and she let out a little squeak of shock as she fell. When she hit the ground her eyes closed and she fell unconscious. 

—————————-

Harry had managed to get Neville and Hermione out to safety and reunited with Ron, Ginny, and Luna, but they really needed Hermione’s quick thinking to help get them out of the Ministry. Harry was directing the group towards a door when the door directly to the right of the door they were walking towards burst open. 

Three Death Eaters sped into the hall, led by Bellatrix Black. 

“There they are!” she shrieked. 

Ginny noticed that Bellatrix looked over the entire group possibly looking for casualties or injuries, but when she saw Hermione motionless in Neville’s arms she looked almost heartbroken.  _ ‘Why on earth would a Death Eater be saddened by Hermione’s condition?’  _ As quickly as she saw the emotion it was replaced with anger. 

Stunning Spells shot across the room: Harry smashed his way through the door ahead, flung Ron unceremoniously from him, and ducked back to help Neville in with Hermione. They were all over the threshold just in time to slam the door against Bellatrix.

“ _ Colloportus _ !” shouted Harry, and he heard three bodies slam into the door on the other side. 

Hermione began to stir and she opened her eyes. 

“What happened?”

“You were hit by a spell,” said Harry. 

Hermione climbed out of Neville’s arms and stood on shaking legs. 

“Where’s my wand?”

“Right here.” Neville pulled Hermione’s wand out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione. 

“Are you sure you should be fighting?” asked Harry. 

“No, but what other choice do we have?”

The Death Eaters were yelling louder than before on the other side of the door. 

“Be ready for a fight,” said Hermione grimly. She held out her wand with a shaky hand and pointed it at the door.

Hermione took this chance to look at their surroundings. She looked around and saw that the group was balanced precariously on a ledge. Harry was about to ask Hermione a question when the door burst open. Out of shock Hermione had stumbled backwards into the group causing them to fall off the ledge down the dark abyss. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Neville cried out as they fell. Luna was the only one not to scream out. Hermione’s stomach plummeted and she reached her hand out towards the ledge as she tipped backwards. 

The last thing Hermione saw was the fear in Bella’s eyes and the pale hand of her lover reaching out in an attempt to grab her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy early Halloween to those that celebrate it!

Hermione screamed on her way down the abyss. Her mind was racing at a million miles an hour. ‘This is it isn’t it? I’m going to die at 15. Well technically 16 because of the time turner, but that’s beside the point.’ 

She closed her eyes and thought about all the people she loves. Her mum, her dad, Harry, and Ginny who were like siblings to her, and finally Bella. ‘Oh Bella. I wish you knew just how much I love you.’ 

Just as Hermione had accepted her fate she felt two strong arms wrap around her and her eyes snapped open. All around her was dark mist. A voice whispered in her ear. 

“I’ve got you love.”

“Bella,” said Hermione breathlessly. 

Before Hermione could say anything else Bella spiraled steeply down towards the ground causing Hermione to scream out and wrap her arms tighter around Bella. They both landed safely on the stone floor of the abyss with the black mist fading from around them. Bella wrapped one arm around Hermione’s waist and held her wand up to Hermione’s neck. Forcing Hermione to lean her head back on Bella’s shoulder. 

Bella leaned over to whisper in Hermione’s ear, “I’m sorry to do this to you but I can’t let anyone catch on to me.”

Hermione nodded and strained her head to look at Bella. Bella to anyone else was a terrifying sight to see, but to Hermione she was the most beautiful person in the room. Her eyes were troubled, but to Hermione they were beautiful. Hermione wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss the soft dark red lips next to her ear. She became lost in how beautiful she found Bella to be. Hermione continued to swoon over Bella before snapping out of it and looking around the room and seeing all of her friends in similar positions with the other Death Eaters except for Harry. Harry was standing in the middle of the circular room, next to a strange portal like doorway, facing off with Lucius Malfoy. 

“Give me the prophecy, boy. No one needs to get hurt,” said Lucius, his eyes gleaming with malicious intent. 

“Harry don’t do it!” shouted Hermione. She could see the conflict in Harry’s eyes and was worried that he would give it to Malfoy. 

“Silence you stupid girl!” said Bella shoving her wand almost painfully into Hermione’s neck. Bella leaned over and schooled her expressions to show one of malice as she began to whisper. 

“I’m so sorry love I have to keep my image up. I’ve alerted Dumbledore. The order is on their way,” said Bella quietly into Hermione’s ear. 

Hermione knowing that she couldn’t respond verbally nodded her head to show that she understood. Hermione leaned her weight into Bella feeling the exhaustion and pain wash over her from Dolohov’s spell earlier as her adrenaline wore off. 

Bella took Hermione’s weight without a complaint and shifted her body position a bit. 

Malfoy held out his hand and demanded for the prophecy once more. 

“Give me the prophecy or your little friends start getting hurt.”

Harry stood in silence for a couple of seconds before extending his arm with the prophecy. 

“HARRY NO!” screamed Hermione. 

“I SAID SILENCE YOU STUPID MUDBLOOD!” screeched Bella stabbing her wand yet again into Hermione’s neck. 

To any other person Bella looked terrifyingly livid, but Hermione could see the sadness and pain in Bella’s eyes. Hermione tried to reassure her with a small half smile, but that didn’t seem to help. If anything it made the sadness in Bella’s eyes grow. 

Harry immediately pulled his arm back and cradled the prophecy close to his chest when he heard Hermione yell out to him. 

“Very well then Potter. Start with the talkative one,” ordered Malfoy. 

Hermione was ‘dragged’ by Bella to the center of the room just next to Harry. Hermione stood next to Harry, her legs shaking from the spell that she was hit by earlier. Hermione understood that Bella would have to hurt her in order to make her ‘allegiance’ to the Dark Lord believable and waited for the first spell to hit her. 

“Let’s start off with a fun one! The cruciatus curse maybe?” Bella asked in a mocking manner. Bella lifted her wand with a slight tremble and pointed it at Hermione. She hesitated once again lowering her wand slightly before lifting it back up. 

“Cru-,” Bella began before she was interrupted by a door being blasted open. 

Harry dropped the prophecy. Lucius dove in an attempt to catch the glass ball, but was too slow and the prophecy shattered into a million little pieces. Lucius let out a cry of despair and fell to his knees in front of the shattered glass. 

“BELLATRIX BLACK STEP AWAY FROM HERMIONE!” shouted Andromeda with her wand at the ready. Tonks stood a few feet behind her mom with her wand pointing at Bella. 

Bella pulled Hermione into her chest and held Hermione around her waist and Bella’s wand was pointing out towards Andy. Using Hermione as a human shield of sorts. The rest of the Order rushed into action with the other Death Eaters. 

“Andy! It’s been forever since I’ve seen you! How’s the mudblood husband and your half blood daughter?” asked Bella in a mock serious manner. 

Hermione could see the rage building up in Andy and was worried that she would attack Bella. 

“Bella let go of her,” said Andy dangerously. 

“Or what?! You’re going to hurt little old me?!” Bella finished her taunt with a loud cackle. 

“Maybe I will! It won’t be any different than when we were children!”

“You’re going to use a tickling hex or another childish hex? Oh yes that will scare me away!”

Andy lost control of her temper for a second and shot a curse dangerously close to the pair. 

“Let her go,” Andy growled. 

Bella simply smirked at Andy and took off with Hermione in a swirl of black smoke. Andy let out a shout, but couldn’t do much more than that out of fear of possibly hitting Hermione with a curse.

Bella landed on the floor across the way from Andy. Bella let her guard down for a second when Hermione’s knees buckled and she almost fell to the ground. Bella wrapped her arm tighter around the younger witch supporting her weight. 

“Hermione hold on for a little longer,” desperately pleaded Bella. 

“I don’t know if I can,” said Hermione weakly. 

Sirius shot a curse at Bella in an attempt to ‘rescue’ Hermione from his cousin. Bella in shock loosened her grip on Hermione and the Gryffindor fell to the floor as she didn’t have the strength to support her own weight.

“What did you do to her?!” shouted Sirius. 

“I didn’t do anything to her, dear cousin,” said Bella truthfully. 

“What did you do?!” shouted Sirius not believing his cousin. 

“I didn’t do anything,” hissed Bella, irritated that Sirius didn’t believe her. Then again if Bella was in Sirius’ shoes she probably wouldn’t have believed her either. 

Sirius enraged by what he thought his cousin did, began shooting spell after spell at her. Bella blocked every spell effortlessly. 

“Is that the best you can do?”

Sirius, angry at his cousin, began to put more and more power into every curse. Bella continued to block the curses and hexes and began to move onto the offensive. Bella began to fire curses and hexes at Sirius and saw that he was beginning to tire. She saw her opening and took it hitting him with a powerful stunning spell, sending Sirius flying across the room into the wall. He hit the wall with a sickening thud and collapsed on the floor. 

Harry who had seen Bella send Sirius flying into the wall charged her enraged that she did such a thing to his godfather. 

“You killed him! You killed my godfather!” shouted Harry charging after the Slytherin. 

Bella started cackling and ran off through a door with Harry hot on her heels. Hermione was worried for the two’s wellbeing and began to search for the strength to get up and follow the two. She glanced over at the man sprawled out on the ground and saw his chest move slightly. Hermione’s eyebrows furrowed and she wished to investigate some more, but the need to go to Bella and Harry triumphed. Hermione began to crawl to her feet, but she only could get up on her knees. She kept struggling to get up and she was about to give up when Ginny came to her aid and helped her to her feet. 

“We have to go after them,” said Hermione when she was up on her feet. 

Ginny nodded and together with Ginny supporting Hermione they made their way to the door as fast as they could. When they made it into the main hall of the Ministry of Magic they saw Harry chasing Bellatrix down the hall. 

“I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!”

Harry let out an enraged shout and ran even faster after the witch. 

“Oh he’s coming to get me!” Bella cackled as she ran from the boy.

“Crucio!” Harry screamed at the woman. 

Bella stood shocked when she was hit by the curse, but then started cackling. 

“You have to mean it for it to work!”

“Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!” Harry continued to yell the curse until he fell to the floor sobbing. 

Bella’s eyes widened as she saw something or rather someone behind Harry. 

“Master I’m sorry. I tried to save it. I really did. Please forgive me,” pled Bella kneeling on the ground. 

Don’t waste your breath!” yelled Harry. “He can’t hear you from here!”

“Can’t I, Potter?” said a high, cold voice.

Hermione and Ginny whipped their heads around and saw a tall, thin, and black-hooded figure. His terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupiled eyes staring. Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stood frozen, quite unable to move.

“So you smashed my prophecy?” said Voldemort softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. “No, Bella, he is not lying. . . . I see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind. . . . Months of preparation, months of effort . . . and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again. . . .”

“Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting with my sister and my cousin!” sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort’s feet as he paced slowly nearer. “Master, you should know —”

“Be quiet, Bella,” said Voldemort dangerously. “I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?”

“But Master — he is here — he is below —”

Voldemort paid no attention to the witch. 

“I have nothing more to say to you, Potter,” he said quietly. “You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!”

But the headless golden statue of the wizard in the fountain had sprung alive, leaping from its plinth, and landed on the floor with a crash between Harry and Voldemort. The spell merely glanced off its chest as the statue flung out its arms, protecting Harry.

“What — ?” said Voldemort, staring around. And then he breathed, “Dumbledore!”

Harry looked behind him, his heart pounding. Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates.

Voldemort raised his wand and sent another jet of green light at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cloak; next second he had reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand toward the remnants of the fountain; the other statues sprang to life too. The statue of the witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor. Hermione let out a gasp worried for Bella’s well-being. 

Meanwhile, the goblin and the house-elf scuttled toward the fireplaces set along the wall, and the one-armed centaur galloped at Voldemort, who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The headless statue thrust Harry backward, away from the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort and the golden centaur cantered around them both.

“It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom,” said Dumbledore calmly. “The Aurors are on their way —”

“By which time I shall be gone, and you dead!” spat Voldemort. 

He sent another Killing Curse at Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security guards desk, which burst into flame.Dumbledore flicked his own wand. The force of the spell that emanated from it was such that Hermione and Ginny, though shielded by a stone pillar, felt their hair stand on end as it passed, and this time Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gonglike note reverberated from it, an oddly chilling sound.

“You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?” called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. “Above such brutality, are you?”

“We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,” Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk toward Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. “Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit —”

“There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!” snarled Voldemort.

“You are quite wrong,” said Dumbledore, still closing in upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though they were discussing the matter over drinks. “Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness —”

Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield. This time it was the one-armed centaur, galloping in front of Dumbledore, that took the blast and shattered into a hundred pieces, but before the fragments had even hit the floor, Dumbledore had drawn back his wand and waved it as though brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. For a moment, it seemed Dumbledore had won, but then the fiery rope became a serpent, which relinquished its hold upon Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore. 

Voldemort vanished. The snake reared from the floor, ready to strike —

There was a burst of flame in midair above Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared, standing on the plinth in the middle of the pool where so recently the five statues had stood.

“Look out!” Harry yelled from behind his stone guard.

But even as he shouted, one more jet of green light had flown at Dumbledore from Voldemort’s wand and the snake had struck —

Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, opened his beak wide, and swallowed the jet of green light whole. He burst into flame and fell to the floor, small, wrinkled, and flightless. At the same moment, Dumbledore brandished his wand in one, long, fluid movement — the snake, which had been an instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; the water in the pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass. 

For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass —

Then he was gone, and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.

Sure it was over, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, Harry made to run out from behind his statue guard, but Dumbledore bellowed, “Stay where you are, Harry!”

For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. Hermione couldn’t see why he would be frightened. The hall was quite empty but for themselves, Bellatrix still attempting to get herself free from under the statue, and the tiny baby Fawkes croaking feebly on the floor. And then Harry fell to the ground screaming out in pain and agony. He was cupping his scar and rolling on the floor. Suddenly he stopped thrashing and looked up at Dumbledore. 

Harry began to speak in a voice that was not his. 

“Kill me now, Dumbledore. . . .”

Dumbledore looked down at the possessed boy. 

“If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy. . . .”

Dumbledore looked down at Voldemort/Harry with a face that plainly stated that he would not do it.

Suddenly the voice stopped. Harry was lying facedown on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering. 

“Are you all right, Harry?”

“Yes,” said Harry, shaking so violently he could not hold his head up properly. “Yeah, I’m — where’s Voldemort, where — who are all these — what’s —”

The Atrium was full of people. The floor was reflecting emerald-green flames that had burst into life in all the fireplaces along one wall, and a stream of witches and wizards was emerging from them. As Dumbledore pulled him back to his feet, Harry saw the tiny gold statues of the house-elf and the goblin leading a stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge forward.

“He was there!” shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall, where Bellatrix had lain trapped moments before. 

“I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear, it was You-Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disapparated!”

“I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!” gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pajamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles. “Merlin’s beard — here — here! — in the Ministry of Magic! — great heavens above — it doesn’t seem pos- sible — my word — how can this be?”

“If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore, apparently satisfied that Harry was all right, and walking forward so that the newcomers realized he was there for the first time (a few of them raised their wands, others simply looked amazed; the statues of the elf and goblin applauded and Fudge jumped so much that his slipper-clad feet left the floor), “you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them.”

“Dumbledore!” gasped Fudge, apparently beside himself with amazement. “You — here — I — I —”

He looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him, and it could not have been clearer that he was in half a mind to cry, “Seize him!”

“Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men — and win again!” said Dumbledore in a thunderous voice. “But a few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong men for twelve months, and it is time you listened to sense!”

“I — don’t — well —” blustered Fudge, looking around as though hoping somebody was going to tell him what to do. When nobody did, he said, “Very well — Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see . . . Dumbledore, you — you will need to tell me exactly — the Fountain of Magical Brethren — what happened?” he added in a kind of whimper, staring around at the floor, where the remains of the statues of the witch, wizard, and centaur now lay scattered.

“We can discuss that after I have sent Harry, Hermione, and Ginny back to Hogwarts,” said Dumbledore.

“Harry — Harry Potter?”

Fudge spun around and stared at Harry, who was still standing against the wall beside the fallen statue that had been guarding him during Dumbledore and Voldemort’s duel.

“He-here?” said Fudge. “Why — what’s all this about?”

“I shall explain everything,” repeated Dumbledore, “when the three of them are back at school.”

He walked away from the pool to the place where the golden wizard’s head lay on the floor. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, “Portus.” The head glowed blue and trembled noisily against the wooden floor for a few seconds, then became still once more.

“Now see here, Dumbledore!” said Fudge, as Dumbledore picked up the head and walked back to Harry carrying it. “You haven’t got authorization for that Portkey! You can’t do things like that right in front of the Minister of Magic, you — you —”

His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him magisterially over his half-moon spectacles.  
“You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts,” said Dumbledore.   
“You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you . . .” Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and glanced at it, “half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the headmaster will find me.”

Fudge goggled worse than ever. His mouth was open and his round face grew pinker under his rumpled gray hair.  
“I — you —”

Dumbledore turned his back on him.  
“Hermione, Ginny please come here. Take this Portkey, Harry.”

He held out the golden head of the statue, and Harry, Hermione, and Ginny placed their hands upon it.

“I shall see you three in half an hour,” said Dumbledore quietly. “One. . . two . . . three . . .”

Hermione felt the odd sensation of a hook being jerked behind her navel. The polished wooden floor was gone from beneath her feet; the Atrium, Fudge, and Dumbledore had all disappeared, and they were flying forward in a whirlwind of color and sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter!


	26. Chapter 26

Hermione arrived in the hospital wing disoriented and dizzy with Harry and Ginny equally as wobbly next to her. Just as Hermione began to get her bearings, Mrs. Weasley and Madam Pomfrey immediately ran over and began fussing over the three Gryffindors. 

“Where have the three of you been!? Do you have any idea how much you scared us!?” asked Mrs. Weasley rhetorically as she moved to check Ginny over for injuries. 

The three of them mutely shook their heads and looked down at their feet as Molly continued to berate them and look Ginny over for injuries. Ginny didn’t look too happy with Molly, but put up with it because she knew if she struggled she probably would be in more trouble than she already was in. It took everything in Hermione not to laugh at her friends unfortunate situation. 

“Ms. Granger, follow me immediately. I have someone who wishes to talk to you,” said McGonagall walking up to the group.

“She most certainly won’t Minerva! I haven’t checked her over yet!” exclaimed Madam Pomfrey. 

“This is urgent Poppy! She needs to come with me now.”

Madam Pomfrey didn’t respond verbally to the Head of Gryffindor, but simply fixed her with a glare. With that simple glare McGonagall seemed to surrender and she quickly backpedaled.

“Of course Poppy, check her over and then she will come with me,” said McGonagall almost sheepishly.

Hermione looked around the hospital wing as she was led to a nearby bed. And saw many order members she didn’t know sleeping on beds. Most of them looked healed of all their injuries and seemed to be resting. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks to take in the sight before her. To Hermione’s great shock she saw Sirius running towards his godson with his arms outstretched. 

“Harry!”

“Sirius!”

Harry leaped into his godfather’s arms and Sirius swung Harry around in circles. The room was filled with joyous laughter from the pair. Hermione’s cheeks began to hurt because she was smiling from ear to ear. Hermione wanted to walk over and say something to the pair, but she was dragged onto one of the beds by Madam Pomfrey.

Pomfrey began fussing over Hermione and shoving potion after potion into Hermione’s hands for her to drink. A light blue one, a dark green sludgy looking potion, a bright yellow one, and finally a dark purple one. When Hermione finished drinking the last foul tasting potion she felt a million times better. Hermione was practically shaking with renewed energy as she sat on the bed.

“You are free to go Ms. Granger,” said Madam Pomfrey, patting Hermione on the shoulder before moving onto her next patient. 

McGonagall, who to her credit had been waiting quite patiently, helped Hermione out of the bed and began to lead her down one of the many halls in Hogwarts. They walked through the maze of corridors until they reached the abandoned classrooms in the back of the school. McGonagall led them to the abandoned classroom furthest from them.

Hermione entered the room before McGonagall and saw Bellatrix pacing around the room leaving footprints in the inch of dust covering the classroom. Bella looked like a mess; she had dark circles under her eyes, her dress was torn near the bottom, and it didn’t look like she had bothered to take off any of the glamor she had used to make herself look more skeletal.

“Bella? What are you doing here?” asked Hermione, shocked to see the older witch in the school. 

Bella rushed over to the Gryffindor and placed her hands on the shorter witch’s shoulders. 

“Hermione! Are you okay?” asked Bella searching Hermione’s face for any signs of pain. 

“I’m fine Bella,” said Hermione with a gentle smile,“Madam Pomfrey gave me some potions and now I feel so much better. But that’s besides the point, Bella what are you doing here?” 

“I had to make sure you were safe. I know that it’s risky for me to be here, but I had to know if you were okay.”

Hermione smiled,“Well as you can see I’m good,” but she quickly turned serious again. “What about Voldemort?”

“What about him?”

“Isn’t he upset about the prophecy?”

“Yes, but he doesn’t believe it to be my fault. He blames Lucius for the incident.”

Hermione gave a hum of understanding before leaning forward into Bella. Bella wrapped her arms around the younger witch and rested her head on top of Hermione’s head. Hermione tilted her head up and captured the older witch’s lips in a soft kiss. The two of them lost themselves in the kiss until they were brought back to reality.

McGonagall cleared her throat to remind the couple of her presence. The two witches jumped apart blushing as they had completely forgotten about the Professor. 

“I will be leaving now. Ms. Granger I expect to see you back in the dormitory before curfew.”

McGonagall began walking towards the door before stopping to turn around. 

“And please do behave yourselves. We don’t need anyone complaining about strange noises coming from one of the classrooms.”

McGonagall didn’t wait for a response and walked out of the classroom, closing the door behind her. Acting completely oblivious to the deep red blush covering Hermione’s face and Bella staring at the Professor with her jaw hanging open. Even after she had left they stood in silence for a couple of seconds before Bella broke it.

“Well, when I came here to check on you I didn’t expect to be embarrassed by McGonagall,” said Bella with a blank face.

At that statement Hermione burst out laughing and almost fell over from laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Bella watched Hermione laugh for a second before busting out in laughter as well. 

When the two finally stopped laughing they sat in a comfortable silence on the dusty floor enjoying each other's company. 

“Is Sirius alright?” asked Bella quietly.

“Yes he’s fine. When I saw him last he was reuniting with Harry.”

“That’s good.”

Bella leaned her head on Hermione’s shoulder and Hermione reached one of her hands up to play with Bella’s hair. 

“What are we going to do Bella?”

“What do you mean?”

“At some point we won’t be able to keep up this charade. At some point we won’t be able to hide us. It’s already hard to hide it from Harry and Ginny.”

“I know how you feel. Cissa is constantly berating me with questions because she has a hunch that I’m dating someone. We just have to keep this up till this war is over.”

“But that so long to hide for.”

“I know and I wish it didn’t have to be like this, but there really isn’t another option.”

“I understand. I love you Bella.”

“I love you too.”

Suddenly Bella hissed. She sat upright holding her left forearm.

“Bella are you alright?” asked Hermione concerned.

“I’m fine, Love. He’s calling me,” said Bella with a grimace.

“Go then.”

“But-” protested Bella.

“Go,” said Hermione firmly.

“Okay.”

Bella stood up with Hermione following close behind. 

“Be safe okay?”

“I always am.”

Bella leaned in and caught Hermione’s lips in one last kiss. Well, it was supposed to be the last one, but it quickly turned many, many more. Their hands began to roam and they didn’t split apart until they heard a small squeak from the doorway. Bella and Hermione turned their attention to the doorway and saw a flash of long red hair whipping past the doorway.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay I was having a bit of writer's block :( I know this chapter is a little short, but I needed a filler of sorts. But since this is a short chapter I will probably update another chapter today or tomorrow.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay. I promise I meant to get this up sooner, but unfortunately I had school :( Anyways enjoy!

Bella looked at Hermione with wide eyes before grabbing her forearm and hissing in pain again. 

“Bella go to Him. I can deal with this.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m absolutely sure I can deal with my best friend.”

Bella nodded and leaned in to give Hermione one more kiss before disappearing with a sharp crack and a conflicted look on her face. 

Hermione immediately lept into action and ran through the maze of hallways and corridors. _‘How much did she see? Will she be mad at me? What if she told Harry!?!’_ With that final thought Hermione began to run faster and faster to the one place that she could think to look. 

She burst out of the school and not stopping to hesitate she sprinted out into the muddy grass. Hermione had mud all over her shoes and her legs, but could not bring herself to care. She ran and ran until she was on the pebbly beach of the lake. Taking a look around the lake she couldn’t see any sign of Ginny. _‘Where would she have gone?’_ Hermione started to jog around the lake looking for any sign of the redhead. 

Just when she was about to look somewhere else she saw Ginny sitting on a log staring at her hands. Hermione slowly approached Ginny, wincing as the pebbles crunched loudly under her feet causing Ginny to look up. Hermione stopped in her tracks and the two of them just stared at each other. As they stared at each other the tension began to rise until Ginny snapped.

“So when were you going to tell me you were shagging a Death Eater?”

“Ginny-”

“No! Don’t even start with the ‘She’s not like that’ or the ‘She’s changed’! What is wrong with you! This woman if I can even call her that has done horrible, horrible things! Can you really not see that she’s a monster. Also, I thought you were with Mulligan! What happened to her? Are you cheating or something?!”

Hermione opened her mouth to try and explain the situation, but Ginny quickly shut her down. Ginny stood up and began to get closer and closer to Hermione.

“Don’t even try and defend the Death Eater! You are aware that she tortured countless people including Neville’s parents, right?! Neville is our friend! Do you know how much this will hurt him?! She has done unspeakable things to so many people! I was fine with you being with Mulligan because she was a good person. But this?! I can’t even begin to comprehend this!”

Ginny sat down on the log again, putting her head in her hands, panting for air after her angry speech.

Hermione, ducking under a low branch, walked a little closer to Ginny and attempted to explain exactly what was going on again. 

“Ginny I know you are mad-”

“That’s the understatement of the year.”

Hermione cleared her throat before continuing,“Look I know how bad this looks. Believe me I know. There are some things that you should know before you make a decision about her. I’m not a cheater and frankly it makes me sad that you think I would. I could never cheat on Thalia because Thalia and Bellatrix are the same person-”

“What are you talking about? Mulligan looks completely different from the Death Eater. Mulligan is quite possibly the kindest Professor we’ve ever had and I doubt a Death Eater could be that kind.”

“If you would let me finish I can explain. Bellatrix was using a glamour spell to hide her identity. Tell me did you ever see that Thalia had really dark brown eyes?”

“Yeah… Why?”

“Didn’t you find it weird that our Professor with light brown eyes suddenly had dark brown eyes?”

“Maybe she just wanted a change Hermione.”

“Well one of the only ways you can tell that someone is using a glamour spell is by changing eye color or a small change in facial features. Believe me it sounds insane I know. But please trust me. You can ask Dumbledore or McGonagall and they will tell you the same thing that I told you. McGonagall and Dumbledore have admitted Bellatrix into the order which is why we saw Mulligan at one of the meetings. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about this sooner, but I’m not sorry that I love Bellatrix.”

“How can you love her after all the horrible things she’s done?”

“Because she’s becoming a better person for me and most importantly for herself.”

“So she’s a spy for the order.”

“Yes.”

Ginny sat in silence for a while processing the things that Hermione told her.

“I need some time to sort through this.”

“Of course.”

Ginny walked off with furrowed brows and a still angry expression. Hermione sat down, buried her head in her hands, and let out a defeated sigh. _‘What if she hates me forever? Jeez no need to be so melodramatic, Hermione. Ginny will probably come around eventually. Right? What if I just lost Ginny as my friend?’_ The thoughts kept circling around and around and around in her head. Hermione sank deeper into her hands as she kept thinking those horrible thoughts. She continued the vicious cycle and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Ms. Granger, Ms. Weasley and Mr. Potter are very worried about you,” said McGonagall.

Hermione let out a small whimper when the Professor mentioned Ginny’s name.

“Ms. Granger are you alright?” asked McGonagall as she looked down at her prized student.

Hermione shook her head no and immediately the elder witch lept into action getting the student on her feet and walking towards the castle.

“Let's get you back to the common room. I’m sure your friends will be more of a help than I will be.”

Hermione widened her eyes and spoke almost desperately, “I can’t go back there. I can’t go back.”

“Why on Earth can’t you go back to the common room?” asked McGonagall with furrowed brows. 

“Because Ginny knows and she hates me.”

McGonagall’s eyes widened in shock before gently wrapping her hand around Hermione’s elbow and leading them into the castle.

“I can’t go back!”

“You aren’t going back.”

McGonagall led them into her office and they sat down in the chairs in the office.

“Ginger newt?”

Hermione shook her head as she couldn’t even think about food without feeling like she was going to throw up.

“Well we better get into it then. Ms. Granger what exactly happened?”

“I- Bella and I were er kissing.. and well Ginny walked in on us kissing and she made a noise and ran off and that caught our attention, but Bella had to leave because Voldemort was calling her. I followed Ginny and found her at the lake. She was mad at me and confronted me about being with a Death Eater and she continued to tell me that Bella was a monster and she called me a cheater because she thought I was dating Thalia. I told her about Thalia and Bella being the same person and how Bella is in the order and she more or less was overwhelmed and left and now I think she hates me and I don’t think she will ever talk to me again.”

McGonagall sat silently for a couple of seconds, processing the story and formulating an answer. 

“That’s quite the story Ms. Granger. Now, I don’t think that Ms. Weasley will ever be able to hate you and I do believe that she will come around. It's just a matter of when. I’m going to send you back to the dormitories tonight. I understand that you don’t want to go back, but you are a Gryffindor and us Gryffindors don’t hide from anything,” finished McGonagall with a kind smile.

Hermione nodded and felt much better just from hearing McGonagall’s speech.

“Now off you go Ms. Granger.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione walked into the dormitory quietly, hoping that no one would see her walk in. She was half way up the stairs to the dormitory when someone shouted her name.

“Hermione!”

Hermione looked over and saw Harry and Neville waving at her. She let out a small sigh and shouted back at them.

“Harry! Neville!”

“Hermione come down we were just about to break into the twin’s latest inventions!” shouted up Neville excitedly.

“Sorry Neville, but I think I’m going to turn in for the night.”

The two boys looked saddened, but returned back to the party leaving Hermione alone once more. She walked into her dormitory to find it abandoned and sighed out in relief. She walked over to her bed and quickly drew the curtains around the bed. Hermione cast a privacy spell and broke down crying over the rollercoaster of emotions she had felt throughout the day. She felt so guilty for dating the person who had ruined Neville’s chances at truly knowing his parents. Hermione began to sob at the thought of possibly losing her best friend. She fell asleep sobbing, still wearing her muddy robes.

\--------------------------------------------------------

The next morning the Great Hall was filled with laughter and excited shouts. Today was the day that the students were to return home for the summer break. 

Hermione sat down at the farthest end of the table from Ginny. There were lots of whispers as to why Hermione wasn’t sitting with Ginny and the others, but Hermione just ignored them and put some food on her plate. Hermione couldn’t bring herself to look at Ginny, too afraid of what she might see. Instead she focused on pushing her food around on her plate with her fork. 

“Students if I may have your attention,” said Dumbledore, pausing while the chatter died down, “Today you will be returning home to your families!”

The students began to cheer once again.

“I know that you are very excited to see your families again, so eat up quick and you’ll be on your way. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you next year.”

And with that Dumbledore finished his speech and sat down in his chair. Hermione all but sprinted out of the hall to her room to finish packing her bags. 

\-------------------------------------------------

Hermione had just finished packing her trunk when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Hermione turned around and saw the youngest Weasley standing in the doorway.

“Ginny,” cautiously greeted Hermione. 

“Hermione.”

The two of them stood in silence for what could have been years until Ginny broke it.

“I’m sorry. I overreacted and said some bad things. I shouldn’t have said that you were a cheater. That was wrong of me,” said Ginny looking down at her feet.

“Thank you for apologizing, but if you don’t mind me asking what brought this on?”

“I talked to Dumbledore and he told me everything about Bellatrix.”

“Do you believe me now?” questioned Hermione with her arms crossed.

“Yes and I’m sorry for doubting you. I do trust you. I promise I won’t doubt you again.”

“We will see about that.”

Hermione turned back to her trunk and started to lock it shut.

“Hermione?” asked Ginny tentatively.

“Yes.”

“I want you to know that while I may not ever understand why you love her I'm still here for you. It's going to take some time for me to get used to the idea of the two of you being together, but I’ll still be by your side. I don’t think that I’m ready to go back to normal just yet, but soon.”

“I understand Ginny.”

“Okay I’m going to go then.”

“Okay.”

\-----------------------------------------------------

During the drive home from the train station Hermione was uncharacteristically quiet. When her parents asked her about school Hermione just gave them the short answer of ‘It was fine’. Later that night during dinner Hermione ate a couple of bites of the food placed in front of her before excusing herself to her room. 

Hermione pulled on her pajamas and collapsed on her bed exhausted from the events that had transpired throughout the day. Moments later Hermione fell asleep in her bed with a small smile on her face as she dreamed about a world where there was no war. No anger. No sides. And most of all no hiding. She dreamed about finally being able to go on a date with Bella. She dreamed of all the laughter and joy and happiness in this world of her’s. She slept better than she had in weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it! :)


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't really have too much planned for upcoming chapters and I kinda need some more to write so if you guys have any suggestions or ideas I would be glad to look at them! I'll stop talking now and let you guys get on with reading!

Bellatrix landed on her feet gracefully in front of the imposing doorway to Malfoy Manor. She dusted some invisible dust off of her black corset ensemble and rushed into Malfoy Manor. She hurried on through the manor until she had reached the main dining room. Bella quickly knelt before the figure in the throne-like chair. 

“My Lord.”

“Ahh Bella. My most loyal follower,” said Voldemort in his cold voice. “Thank you for joining me.”

“Of course my Lord,” said Bella, still looking down at the tiled floor.

“Rise. Now, you are probably wondering why I’ve summoned you here,” he paused looking down at Bella for a moment, “I’ve called you here to help decide the punishment for Lucius here.”

It was only then that Bella noticed the blonde man sitting pitifully in the corner of the room.

“Lucius is the reason why our little mission failed. Seeing how you are my most trusted follower I thought it would be fitting for you to decide the fate of Lucius.”

“It would be an honor my Lord.”

“I have taken the liberty of selecting a couple punishments for you to choose from. Our first punishment is the Cruciatus curse, then we have a night in the dungeons with Fennir, and finally, a personal favorite of mine, a night with the Carrow twins.”

Bella smiled devilishly at the thought of sealing Lucius’ fate with one of the horrible punishments.

“These are quite the punishments my Lord,” complemented Bella.

The Dark Lord just smiled down at his ‘loyal’ follower.

“I think it would benefit Lucius to spend the night with the Carrow twins, if you approve my Lord,” smirked Bella.

“That sounds perfect Bella.”

Lucius heard his fate be determined for the night and let out a pathetic whimper at the thought. 

“Take him away,” commanded Voldemort.

Lucius began to yell protests and excuses, but was quickly shut up by a silencing spell. Bella smirked at the pathetic man being dragged through the halls of his own mansion.

“That is all. You may leave now, Bella.”

“Thank you my lord,” said Bella, bowing before walking out of the room.

\------------------------------------------------

“Leaving so soon Bella?” questioned Narcissa as she sat in a chair by the fireplace.

Bella let out a sigh as she knew that Narcissa would be cross with her just by the tone of her voice.

“Yes I am. I have some pressing matters to attend to,” said Bella attempting to save herself from impending doom.

“I’m sure your ‘pressing matters’ can wait till we are done here. Why don’t you sit down and have some tea before leaving?” asked Narcissa with a dangerous glint in her eye.

“I really must be on my way,” said Bella in a feeble attempt at escaping.

“I insist,” said Narcissa with a devilish smile as she poured Bella a cup of tea.

Bella sat down and took the cup of tea from her younger, but much more terrifying sister.

“Bella where have you been?”

“What do you mean, Cissa?” asked Bella feigning confusion.

“Don’t give me that,” said Narcissa, putting down her tea onto its saucer with a sharp clink, “Do you think I’m daft? I know that you’ve been leaving the Manor at odd hours. So, I’ll ask again; Where. Have. You. Been?”

“I’ve been on missions for my Lord,” Bella admitted in a half truth. She technically had been on missions for the Dark Lord, but she had also been sneaking out to see Hermione.

“Bella I always know when you aren’t telling me the truth or should I say the whole truth. You forget dear sister that we grew up together,” laughed Narcissa humorlessly.

Bella sat silently looking down at her hands, she knew she was caught.

“I know that you’ve been meeting with the Order,” said Narcissa with a raised eyebrow.

“Cissy keep your voice down!” exclaimed Bella as she looked around warily.

“Relax Bella. No one spies on me in my own house,” said Narcissa waving off Bella’s fears. 

“How do you know that?” asked Bella very much afraid of what Narcissa would do with that information.

“Nevermind how I know, but I want you to set up a meeting for me with Dumbledore.”

“Why?” questioned Bella with furrowed eyebrows.

“Frankly Bella, I don’t think that the Dark Lord has much of a chance at winning the war and I don’t wish to go down crashing and burning with him.”

“Is it just you that wishes to realign with the Order?” asked Bella with a grimace. She would love to see Lucius in Azkaban, but if he wanted to join the Order there wasn’t much of a chance at seeing him there, which in Bellatrix’s opinion was quite heartbreaking.

“No,” started Narcissa before she was interrupted by a loud sigh of disappointment from Bella, “If you would let me finish Draco and myself would like to join the Order.”

“No Lucius?” questioned Bella with an eyebrow raised in disbelief. 

“He wouldn’t hear of it. If I had gone to him he would have had me immediately thrown into the dungeons,” said Narcissa with a sad sigh.

“Well that’s too bad,” said Bella with an emotionless face, but on the inside she was jumping with joy.

Leaning forward in her chair Narcissa asked, “Will you set up the appointment?”

“I will try, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Thank you Bella.”

Bella just nodded and finished drinking her tea while Narcissa read her newspaper.

“I have to go now Cissy.”

“Stay safe Bella.”

“I always am,” responded Bella while walking away.

“Bella?”

“Yes, Cissa.”

“Whoever she is I’m glad that she’s making you happy,” Narcissa said without looking up as she continued reading the day’s new edition of the Daily Prophet.

Bella didn’t respond and continued to walk through the Manor to the room she was currently residing in. She was in such a good mood she couldn’t even bother to yell at one of the new recruits who had walked in front of her. She went to bed happy that night.

\---------------------------------------------------

Bella awoke in her room the next day well rested and feeling weirdly peaceful. She lounged in bed for a couple more minutes just enjoying feeling weightless and not having a care in the world before finally dragging herself out of bed to take a shower.

She stood in the shower enjoying the feeling of warm water running over her pale skin. She took her time washing her hair and body. Enjoying the comfort she felt under the warm water, she stood in the shower until her fingers got wrinkly and she was sufficiently relaxed. Finally deciding she was ready to get on with her day she changed into her normal day to day attire (her dress, her boots, and obviously her signature corset) and walked down the stairs and into the dinning room.

“Good morning Bella,” said Narcissa as soon as she spotted her sister walk into the room

“Good morning, Aunt Bella,” greeted Draco as he looked up from his breakfast.

“Good morning,” replied Bella as she sat down and dug into her breakfast. This morning they were eating eggs, toast, and sausage which just so happened to be one of Bella’s favorites.

The meal was finished in silence and immediately after Bella finished her breakfast she excused herself to her room. Once she was safely in her room she locked the doors and cast a spell against eavesdroppers. When that was complete Bella changed out of her customary clothing and pulled on one of the outfits she used during her time masquerading as Mulligan. She then walked over to the vanity and looked at her reflection in the mirror and began the long and painstaking process of altering her facial features to match the ex-auror’s. Once that was finished she finished altering the other physical features like making herself shorter, her hair lighter and shorter, removing the wild curls from her hair, and finally making her skin tanner.

When that was all finished she looked like a completely different person (well that is what she was going for). She lifted the spells that she had cast in her room and snuck out the window as she couldn’t really walk through the Manor looking like an ex-auror. Bella once off of the Manor walked out past the anti-apparition boundary and apparated away.

\-----------------------------------------

Butterflies were permanently in her stomach upon arriving at 12 Grimmauld Place. She was nervous to see what exactly happened between Ginny and Hermione and what that could possibly mean for her cover. Taking a deep breath she crossed the street, opened the door, and walked into the headquarters.

The entire headquarters was filled with yelling and shouting coming from the dining room. With furrowed eyebrows Bella walked into the room and immediately was met with chaos.

“I’m telling you my deranged cousin did something to Hermione!” shouted Sirius.

“Bella has standards she would never hurt her!” shouted Andy who looked quite pissed off.

“Oh so it’s Bella now? What’s next you're going to be joining them?” accused Sirius pointing his finger at Andy.

Bella had seen enough and was quite pissed off and cleared her throat quietly, preparing to intervene.

“THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH!” bellowed Bella at the top of her lungs.

The room fell silent and everyone looked at her slightly embarrassed that they had let the situation escalate so far. Lowering her voice, but still letting her rage show she continued to speak.

“Sirius, while I’m sure everyone appreciates your concern, you are way out of line! Accusing Andromeda of joining the Death Eaters? What has gotten into you? She married a muggleborn and has a half-blood daughter for Christ’s sake! Andromeda, come with me.” 

Without waiting for a response Bella walked out of the room and into the backyard to get some cool air. Sitting down on the steps she let out a sigh of air and watched her breath appear in front of her. Moments later Andy joined Bella outside and sat down quietly next to her.

“Thank you for rescuing me from that,” said Andromeda quietly.

“It was nothing. Don’t worry about it,” pausing Bella searched Andy’s face, “ You look like you need to get something off your chest.”

“I guess I do. Do you mind if I rant a bit?”

“No go ahead.”

“I can’t believe Sirius would think those horrible things about Bella. I know she doesn’t have the most perfect track record-” ‘ _ That’s quite the understatement,’ _ thought Bella. “-but she has standards and I don’t think that she would ever hurt a student. Sirius grew up with us and while I know he sees the horrible things that she’s done recently Bella was never like this as a child. She was so happy and full of life. It was around when I was eleven, she was thirteen at the time and she had been running around with a muggleborn girl at Hogwarts and our father found out and pulled her from school. He wasn’t a nice man and to this day I’m not quite sure what he did to her, but she came back to school a week later and she wasn’t the same. She was, so, so mean and cruel. She started calling muggleborns slurs and the girl she was with names. I felt so bad for the poor girl, she had no idea what she did wrong,” Andy paused to wipe a couple tears off her face. “A couple years after I realized that she had poisoned Cissa’s mind and turned her to the other side. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to join them so I ran away. All I ever wanted was for Cissa and Bella to finally join this side of the war. I’m not going to say the good side because there will always be a little evil in the face of good,” Andy stopped talking for a moment and buried her face in her hands. “I just feel like I failed and that they will never be able to see right from wrong.”

Bella barely holding back the tears that threatened to fall she placed a comforting hand on Andy’s back.

“I’m sure you tried your best. I’m not the best at comforting people, but I’m sure that you have done everything in your power to make them see that they are on the wrong side,” said Bella as comfortingly as she could.

Andy continued to cry for a couple minutes, but the sobs lessened until they were just sniffles.

“I’m sorry for being a complete mess,” sniffled Andy.

“Don’t worry about it,” smiled Bella reassuringly, “Let’s get inside it’s getting cold out here.”

Bella helped Andy to her feet and escorted her back into the house. Upon entering she saw Dumbledore and desperately needed to get to him, but didn’t want to leave Andy by herself. Her issue was quickly resolved though when Tonks walked over and took her mother away to a quiet room. 

Bella quickly walked over to Dumbledore.

“We need to talk now,” said Bella gruffly.

Dumbledore took one look at her and walked into an empty room and quickly cast locking and anti-eavesdropping spells. 

“What is going on Bella?” asked Dumbledore.

“Narcissa and Draco want to join the Order.”

“Minerva and myself will meet with them on Tuesday at midnight in the Shrieking Shack. Is that all?”

“No,” started Bella before hesitating, “I er I want to tell Andy who I really am. She’s given up. She thinks she failed Cissy and myself and that we will never see how bad Voldemort really is.”

“I see,” said Dumbledore as he stroked his beard, “Andromeda is a perfectly capable person and I do believe she will be able to keep this quiet. As well as her daughter in fact.”

“So I can tell them?”

“Yes I believe so Ms. Black.”

Bella gave him a genuine smile of thanks before bolting out of the room. She found Tonks and Andy sitting in a room together and quickly cast the proper spells.

“Thalia what’s wrong?” asked Tonks, gripping her wand obviously on edge.

“Nothing is wrong, everything is fine. But I need to come clean my name is not Thalia,” said Bella.

“What are you going on about?” questioned Tonks, visually quite confused. Andy didn’t say a word, but looked quite confused.

“There is something you need to know before I tell you who I am. Dumbledore and McGonagall know exactly who I am and are the ones who admitted me into the Order.”

The two witches nodded silently.

“My name is Bellatrix Black,” and with that Bella dropped her glamour in an impressive display of magic.

Tonks gasped and grabbed her wand pointing it out at her Aunt. Andy looked shocked and just stared at her.

“Nyphadora, I’m not going to hurt you. I know how horrible I was in the past and I’m not that person anymore.”

Tonks opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by her mother.

“Bella is this really real?” asked Andy in a soft voice.

“Yes Andy, I’m here and I’m done serving the Dark Lord,” said Bella with a small smile.

With that Andy let a tear slip down her face and launched herself into her sister’s arms. Bella caught her in a bone crushing hug and let out a small sob at finally being able to hug her little sister.

“I missed you so much Bella,” said Andy while she nestled into Bella’s neck.

“I know Andy. I missed you just as much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed all the sisterly love :)


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay! I meant to update last week, but things have been crazy these past couple of weeks. I of course had homework (uhg I hate school), then my brother had a nasty run in with a stingray (he's fine now), and then my internet went out, and finally to top off the week my community was threatened by a wildfire (don't worry everything's under control now). Anyways sorry to bore y'all with all my many excuses. I hope you enjoy this new installment!

“What made you change your mind?” asked Andy once the sisters finally separated from their long overdue hug.

“I guess you could say that someone made me see the truth,” answered Bella cryptically.

Andy knew better than to push the subject based on the look in Bella’s eyes and just smiled at her older sister. Bellatrix couldn’t stop herself from smiling back at the shorter woman. Tonks who still stood in the middle of the room watching the scene was immediately thrown off by seeing a genuine smile on her Aunt’s face.

“So, you’re done serving you-know-who?” hesitantly asked Tonks, almost afraid to say his name.

Bella looked over at her niece with a gentle smile on her face, “You can say his name. Voldemort isn’t going to appear next to you. But yes, I’m done serving him.”

“You-you said his name?!”

“I did. I’m not afraid of him and I don’t serve him anymore so why should I call him a name that sparks fear in people?”

“I guess that makes sense...,” said Tonks while trailing off, lost in thought, presumably still in shock about her Aunt.

“Andy I hope you understand why I had to hide this from you. I never wanted to hide from you, but it was best for both of us. If I told you too soon then we both would be in danger. After hearing your confession about you wanting Cissa and myself to join the same side as you, I cornered Dumbledore and asked him if I could tell you. He agreed with me and I immediately came here to tell you,” said Bella.

“I understand, Bella. I would have done the same if I was in your situation,” reassured Andy as she patted her sister’s hand.

“Aunt Bella?”

Bella looked over at her niece, slightly shocked that she was being referred to as ‘Aunt Bella’.

“You’ve been disguised as Mulligan right?” asked Tonks with furrowed eyebrows and a thoughtful face.

“Yes I have.”

“Does that mean you were the Mulligan at Hogwarts?” asked Tonks.

“Yes, I was in disguise at Hogwarts. At that time I was still serving Voldemort, but that summer I joined the order.”

“Holy shit I’m a genius! I knew it!” exclaimed Tonks after her hunch was proved right.

“Language!” shouted Andy while shooting Bella a glare, Bellatrix didn’t notice Andy’s glare as she was too busy cackling at her niece’s exclamation causing Tonks to start laughing with her Aunt. Andy soon gave in and started laughing with her family too. 

Once the laughter had subsided Tonks broke the comfortable silence, “Well it’s nice to know you’re on our side Aunt Bella.”

“It’s nice to be on this side,” said Bella with a soft smile.

Bella watched her niece get distracted at something outside the partially open door.

“Err I have to go now,” abruptly blurted Tonks as she ran out into the hallway to intercept Lupin.

Bella smiled knowingly at the sight of a budding romance, but quickly turned her attention back to her sister.

“Sometimes I worry about that girl,” sighed Andy, “As much as I would like to continue to catch up, I have to get home and cook dinner-,” interrupting herself, Andy continued talking excitedly, “Actually you should come by for dinner tomorrow!” 

“While I would love to have dinner with you, what about your husband? Won’t he be suspicious of me, the big bad Death Eater, coming over for dinner and a chat?” asked Bella.

“I’ll explain everything to him.”

“Can I trust him Andy?”

“Yes Bella, I would trust Ted with my life.”

Bellatrix accepting the answer nodded her head and let her sister go before letting out a sigh of content. Bella let herself bask in the happiness she felt for a couple of minutes before putting her glamor back on and walking out of the room intent on finding Hermione.

Bella was about to check Hermione’s room when she heard distinctive laughter coming from the backyard. Walking to the backyard Bella swung the door open and stepped out onto the small porch. 

“You!”

Bella jerked her in the direction of the yell she heard. A fiery haired girl with an even more so fiery temper stormed up to Bella. 

“I don’t like you and I don’t think I ever will. I know that Hermione is too good for you, but she likes you and I trust her judgement. But, if you ever hurt her in any way I will stop at nothing to make sure you feel twenty times more pain! Do you understand me?” asked Ginny with a determined and angry expression on her face.

Bella couldn’t help, but feel slightly intimidated by the young witch, determined not to show any fear; she responded to Ginny with a stone cold face. 

“Yes I do. But I’ll have you know I’d rather hurt myself than hurt Hermione.”

“Ginny!” shouted Hermione as she walked up, “Leave her alone.”

“Fine,” grumbled Ginny.

Hermione made a motion for Ginny to leave them alone. Ginny seemed to accept Hermione’s request and walked off while glaring at the elder witch. Once they heard the door shut Hermione immediately began asking Bella questions.

“Where have you been? Why didn’t you contact me? How long have you been here?” asked Hermione, desperate for answers.

“I was dealing with Voldemort yesterday and I was so tired that I fell asleep when I was finished with him. Before you ask I’m fine, he just wanted my opinion on a certain matter. I’ve been here for awhile, but I had to deal with a meeting gone awry and my sister.”

“What do you mean ‘a meeting gone awry and your sister’?”

“Sirius thought that I did something to you during the battle and called me deranged, he may have a point there earlier in my life I was quite a piece of work, but Andy tried to defend me and Sirius accused her of joining the Death Eaters. So I intervened and took Andy out here on the stairs and we had a little heart to heart and she told me that all she wanted was for her sisters to join the Order’s side in the war. I cornered Dumbledore and told him that I was going to tell Andy who I am under the disguise, he was fine with it and I told her.”

“You are not deranged don’t call yourself that! How did things go with Andromeda?”

“It went better than I imagined. I also told Tonks and she seemed to take it pretty well. I’m supposed to have dinner with them later this week.”

“That’s great, Bella!” exclaimed Hermione as she threw her arms around Bella’s neck.

Bella laughed and started to spin them in circles. When Bella put them down on the ground Hermione pulled Bella into a soft kiss and Bella couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. When they finally broke the kiss for air Hermione nestled her head on Bella’s chest, listening to Bellatrix’s heart beat. Bellatrix wrapped her arms around Hermione and they just stood together savoring the moment. They might have been standing there for minutes or hours, but time was a foreign concept to the two as they stood together. 

“How did things go with you and Ginny?” asked Bella softly, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Er it could have been better.”

“I’m sorry this is my fault.”

“Shh it’s not your fault. She was going to find out one way or another, she just happened to find out in one of the worst ways possible.”

“I can’t help, but feel like this was my fault. I should have been more careful and-”

“Bella it’s in the past, we can’t do anything about it now. It’s okay Ginny and I’s friendship is on the way to where it was earlier. Everything’s alright Bella,” reassured Hermione as she looked up into the deep brown eyes she adored so much.

Bella looked down at Hermione, “I should’ve made sure the door was shut-”

Bella was cut off by Hermione firmly planting her lips on Bella’s. Bella grumbled a bit, but eventually gave into the kiss. Hermione and Bella sprung apart when they heard the back door swing open on it’s creaky hinges. 

Ginny walked outside to tell Hermione that dinner was ready. Before Hermione could say anything to the redhead, she had already disappeared inside.

“I guess this is goodbye,” sadly muttered Hermione as she was pulled into an embrace. 

“Not forever though, Love. I’ll write to you as often as I can,” said Bella as she kissed the top of Hermione’s head.

“I don’t want you to leave,” whined Hermione.

“I know Love. I don’t want to leave either, but I'll see you soon.”

“How soon?”

“Whenever the next meeting is.”

“But that’s not till next week!”

“I know I know, but I’ll write to you everyday. And if I can get away I’ll sneak over to see you.”

“Fine,” pouted Hermione.

“What’s that look for?” asked Hermione as she looked at Bella.

“Has anyone told you that you’re cute when you pout?” asked Bella as she looked adoringly at Hermione.

“I am not cute!” huffed Hermione.

Bella laughed at the angry, but cute look on Hermione’s face. Hermione just glared at her. Bella would have found it slightly scary, but unfortunately for Hermione her stomach rumbled.

“I guess someone’s hungry. You’d better get to dinner before there’s nothing left,” joked Bella.

Hermione laughed at Bella’s joke, “I guess I am. I didn’t realize I was this hungry.”

“Go eat. I’ll owl you the moment I get home.”

“Alright. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Hermione smiled up at Bella before stealing another kiss and running inside to get some dinner before Harry or Ron ate it all.

Bella waited till she couldn’t see Hermione anymore before apperating away to Malfoy Manor.

\-------------------------------------------------

Upon arriving in her room after sneaking in through the window, Bella immediately removed her glamor and changed back into her normal clothing. She let out a sigh of relief when she finally put on her corset again. ‘ _ Oh how I missed you, _ ’ Bella thought as she stroked her corset.

“Bellatrix Black I know you’re in there! Open the door!” yelled Narcissa through the door.

Bellatrix swished her wand in the direction of the door, causing the door to swing open with a bang.

“Was that really necessary? Now I’m going to have to repair the wall,” grumbled Cissa as she looked over the new dent in the wall. 

“May I ask why you were yelling my door down?”

“What did you do to Lucius last night?” demanded Narcissa.

“I didn’t do anything,” smirked Bellatrix.

“Bellatrix!”

“My Lord,” said Bella sarcastically, “asked me to choose his punishment and I chose that he would spend the night with the Carrow twins.”

“Why would you choose that punishment? He’s a mess now!”

“Because he deserved it and ‘My Lord’ wanted me to choose that punishment.”

Narcissa sat down on the black satin sheets and let out a sigh, “Bella I understand that you don’t like him, but I like him so please try to be nice to him.”

“I will try for you. I still think you could do so much better than him.”

“I know you think that, but I’m fine with him.”

Bella snorted, but didn’t say anything else even though she was itching to. 

“What did Dumbledore say?”

“He said that he’ll meet with you and Draco on Tuesday night.”

“He couldn’t have met with us sooner than two days?”

“He’s a busy man Cissa.”

“Why couldn’t he have said tomorrow?”

“Again Cissa, he's a busy man. And it works better for me this way.”

“Are you leaving tomorrow to see your ‘mystery girl’?” asked Narcissa.

“No, I’m meeting Andy for dinner at her house. Do you want to come with me?”

“I thought she didn’t know about you?!”

“She didn’t. I told her today who I am.”

“How did she take it?”

“She took it well, but Tonks didn’t take it as well at first. I think she’s fine with it now though.”

“What about her husband?”

“She’s telling her husband about me tonight.”

“I don’t think she’ll be too happy with me showing up on her doorstep.”

“Cissa, if she decided she was okay with inviting me of all people to dinner she’ll be okay with you showing up.”

“Are you sure? I don’t think she holds me in the same regard anymore.”

“Narcissa, she told me herself that all she wants is for all three of us to be on the same side of the war fighting for the Order. I think she will be happy to see you again.”

Narcissa paused for a second thinking over what Bella told her, “What time tomorrow?”

“I’m not sure she didn’t tell me.”

Narcissa opened her mouth to ask her how she didn’t know what time when they heard a peck on the window. A tawny owl was pecking at the window. Bella walked over to the window and opened it for the bird. The owl extended it’s leg for Bella to remove the letter.

“It’s from Andy,” said Bella as she tore it open.

“What does it say?”

“She told her husband and he took it well. She wants us to come over for dinner at five tomorrow.”

Bella walked over to her desk and penned an answer back saying that she would be there before sending the owl on it’s way. Bella talked to Narcissa for a couple more minutes before more or less kicking her sister out of the room. When Narcissa was finally out of her room Bella took her time writing a letter to Hermione before giving it to Nyx, her owl, to take to Hermione. Bella then walked down the stairs for a long dinner with a coward of a man, her sister, and her nephew.

\------------------------------------------------

Bella began to panic in her room. ‘ _ What if Andy changes her mind and doesn’t want to see me? Don’t be ridiculous Andy wouldn’t change her mind like that. Is it inappropriate for me to wear my corset? What do I wear?!’ _

Just before Bella went into full panic mode Narcissa interrupted her thoughts, “I can hear you worrying from down stairs,” deadpanned Cissa “Wear what you have on it’s fine and it suits you.”

“Is it too inappropriate?” asked Bella.

“No, it’s fine Bella. I’m sure Andy and everyone else is expecting you to show up wearing this,” sighed Narcissa as she brushed the invisible dust off of her deep green dress.

Bella nodded and walked over to Narcissa.

“Are you ready to leave now?” asked Narcissa with a raised eyebrow.

Bella sheepishly nodded as Cissa stood up and they walked out of the Manor, apperating away to Andy’s house. 

\-----------------------------------------------------

Bella stood with Cissa in front of the small cottage. It was really a beautiful cottage, surrounded by the woods. The charming little house looked surreal in the beautiful landscape. Vines with stunning white and pink flowers grew on the walls of the cottage. There were rose bushes of all colors lining the path to the door. Bella took a deep breath before walking up to the door, Narcissa following behind her, and knocking. 

A loud voice grew louder as it came closer to the door. Bella nervously began to fidget with the skirt of her dress. 

“Bella!” greeted Andy with a smile and a quick hug. 

Narcissa stood behind Bellatrix, out of Andy’s sight. 

“Andy, how are you?” asked Bella. 

“I’ve been doing well! Why don’t we head inside and catch up over the roast I made! Everyone is so excited to see you!,” eagerly said Andy.

It was then when Cissa stepped out from behind Bella. 

“Narcissa!? What are you doing here?” asked Andy in a protective tone. 

“I wanted to speak with you,” said Narcissa shifting on her feet uneasily. 

“About what?” asked Andy with her arms crossed. 

“I know you don’t trust me and I respect that, but I wanted to speak with you because Draco and myself will be joining the order soon and I want to try and regain some sort of bond that we had before,” said Narcissa. 

“As much as I want to believe you, why should I?”

“Because I’m the one who set up the meeting for Cissa and Draco,” butted in Bella. 

“Mum is everything alright out there?” asked Tonks while walking up to Andy. 

The three sisters were locked in a staredown until Andy caved and pulled Narcissa into a hug. Bella almost laughed at the comical look on Narcissa’s face. Tonks stood flabbergasted watching the scene unfold in front of her. Bella smiled and let out a laugh when Andy grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hug. Bella had never felt more content as she held both her sisters in her arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know I didn't finish the dinner, but that'll be in the next chapter don't you worry ;) Also is there anything you want to see happen during the dinner? I don't really know what I'm going to do about it which is why I didn't write it... So let me know if you guys have any ideas!


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay I had finals, but that's done now so I should have more free time to write. I'll try my best to get the next chapter out as soon as I can! Just a heads up I did mess around with the time line so the marauders attended school with Bella and her sisters. The marauders would be in their 5th year in this. Btw all mistakes are mine.

The sisters held each other until a voice broke the silence. 

“What is going on here?” asked Tonks with furrowed brows. 

Andy quickly wiped a couple tears off her face and turned around to face her daughter. 

“Nymphadora I’d like you to formally meet your Aunt Narcissa,” said Andy gesturing at Cissa. 

Narcissa smiled tentatively at Tonks. Tonks caught so off guard that she didn’t even grumble about being called by her first name. Bella held her breath as she didn’t know how Tonks would react to Narcissa showing up announced. Tonks stared at her Aunt in minor disbelief before walking into the house shouting. 

“Dad! We’re outnumbered now!”

Ted Tonks looked up from the roast he was cutting. “What?”

“Aunt Bella and Aunt Narcissa are here. It’s three of them against us.”

“Well I guess we will have to up our ante,” said Ted with a smile. Ted put his knife down, wiped his hands on a towel and walked up to the trio, his daughter in tow. 

“I don’t think we’ve formally met. I’m Ted Tonks,” said Ted with a smile, putting out his hand for Bellatrix to shake. 

Bellatrix reached out and shook his hand with slight hesitation, “I don’t think we have. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Ted smiled at Bella before reaching his hand out to Narcissa, “You must be Narcissa. It’s great to meet you.”

Narcissa gingerly shook his hand, “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” 

They stood awkwardly in the doorway before Tonks broke the silence. 

“So do either of you have any embarrassing stories about Mum?” asked Tonks with a grin. 

Bella laughed wholeheartedly at that, “Do we?” asked Bella in mock offense, “Of course we do! Andy do you remember the time when you broke - OW.” 

Bella was cut off from finishing her story by a well placed stinging hex. Bella glared at Andy while rubbing her neck trying to soothe the pain. 

“Bella, we agreed not to talk about that,” said Andy with her arms crossed. 

“Talk about what?” asked Tonks, desperate to know what her Mum was trying to hide. 

“Nothing!” shouted Andy. 

“Andy what are you trying to hide?” asked Narcissa. 

“Again nothing. On that note let’s go inside and eat,” suggested Andy desperate to change the subject. 

Andy walked briskly inside with Tonks and Cissa hot on her heels asking about what she was trying to hide. Bella and Ted walked in at a normal pace smiling at the antics of the other two. 

“If you have nothing to hide why won’t you tell us?” asked Tonks. 

“Because it is something I’m not proud of that I did back in my Hogwarts days,” said Andy while placing the food upon the table. 

Bella and Ted made their way over to Andy and began to help her with the food. 

“Something you're not proud of!” scoffed Bella. “Please you wouldn’t stop bragging about that for weeks.”

Andy turned beet red, “When did this turn into everyone ganging up on me?”

Bella cackled at Andy’s embarrassment. Andy looked at Ted for help, but he held up his hands and mouthed ‘This is all you.’

“This happened when you decided to hide whatever you did from us,” responded Tonks. 

Andy let out a huff of air as she placed the mashed potatoes on the table. Bella couldn’t help but smile at how normal they seemed, poking fun at Andy, setting the table, smiling and laughing. She let herself be pulled into the infectious laughter and joy resonating in the small cottage as they all sat down to eat.

It was about halfway through the delicious dinner before the more difficult questions made an appearance. 

“So Bellatrix, how did you join the order?” asked Ted. 

Bella swallowed her mouthful of roast, “Er I had an acquaintance who got me a meeting with Dumbledore and McGonagall.”

“Ah I see. If you don’t mind me asking, why was it necessary to hide your identity?” asked Ted while stroking his chin.

“I’m a spy for the Order and Dumbledore believed my cover would be more secure if it was kept a secret.”

“That does make sense,” said Ted as he leaned back in his chair. 

“Aunt Narcissa I can’t help but wonder what you're doing here. Are you done with Him?” 

Narcissa quietly cleared her throat, “Well I’ve never been with him, but yes I’m leaving his side. It's not official, but Draco and myself have a meeting with Dumbledore to discuss matters pertaining to us joining the order.”

“That’s great!” exclaimed Tonks and Ted at the same time. 

“Jinx!” they screamed. 

“Double jinx!” shouted Tonks before her father. 

Ted glared at his child as Tonks dissolved into a fit of laughter. Narcissa and Bella watched the scene with twin looks of confusion. Andy looked at the two purebloods and laughed at the looks in their faces. 

“It’s a muggle thing. If you say the same thing at the same time then you yell jinx. If the other person beats you to it like Tonks did then you can’t speak until someone says your name,” explained Andy while gesturing at her newly mute husband. 

“Ahh,” said Bella, “So it’s like that time we hexed Cissa so she couldn’t tattle on us.”

“I’d forgotten about that!” exclaimed Andy as she laughed. “You were so mad! You ran around the house trying to yell at us, but nothing would come out.”

“And then Mother didn’t know what was wrong with her and took her to St. Mungos,” said Bella while laughing. 

The two sisters dissolved into a fit of laughter while remembering the crazy day.

Narcissa glared at her two sisters, “I have plenty of horrible stories about the two of you. So I would suggest not dragging me into this unless you want me to embarrass you.”

Tonks perked up at hearing the story and butted into the conversation, “So Mum is there any chance we can hear that story now?”

“No.”

“Aww come on! Why not?”

“Because I said no.”

“Mummm please,” said Tonks as she morphed her eyes into huge puppy eyes. Andy had no line of defense against her daughter’s incessant begging  _ and _ puppy eyes, so she finally caved. 

“Fine, but I’m telling the story.” 

“Why? I’m sure I’ll do a much better job telling the story,” laughed Bella. 

Andy just rolled her eyes at Bella and went on to tell the story, “I was in my fifth year, Bella was in her seventh year, and Narcissa was in her third year. It was after Slytherin won the house cup again and we were all slightly drunk and we had decided to play truth or dare. And then Bella dared me to break into the Gryffindor common room and vandalize it.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

_ (Flashback) _

_ “Andy come on! Are you going to chicken out?” taunted Bella as the others they were with laughed.  _

_ The group of five Slytherins sat in a circle around two empty bottles of Fire Whiskey, Rodolphus and Bella had smuggled them in from their last Hogsmeade trip. _

_ “Yeah Andy, do it!” pressured Rod. Bella, Severus, Rod, and Rad began to chant ‘Do it’ over and over. _

_ Andy looked to have a mental battle for a while before leaping to her feet and making her way to the door. _

_ “Well are you coming or not?” asked Andy.  _

_ The others scrambled to their feet and together the group made their way silently over to the Gryffindor common room. The others hid out of sight of the portrait and Andy kept walking. Andy stopped before the Fat Lady, silently hoping and praying that her scheme would work.  _

_ “Password?” _

_ “I er forgot it. Could you give me a clue? I really don’t want to wake Professor McGonagall at this hour,” said Andy, looking like a perfect Angel.  _

_ “I’m sorry dear I can’t let you in, it's against the rules.” _

_ “Please, I’ve had a really bad night. I really just want to get to bed,” said Andy with tears in her eyes. _

_ “I suppose I can, but I will have to inform Professor McGonagall in the morning that you forgot the password and were out past curfew,” caved the portrait once she saw the sadness in Andy’s face. _

_ “That’s fine. Please I just really want to get to bed,” begged Andy.  _

_ “Alright. Your clue is what’s fatal, loud, and buried in the ground?” _

_ Andy paused and thought about it for a while, “Oh is it a Mandrake?” _

_ “You may enter,” said the Fat Lady as the portrait swung forward.  _

_ Andy walked into the common room which was thankfully deserted and pulled out her wand. She first summoned sheets to cover all the portraits so that they couldn’t report her to McGonagall. She began silently destroying the room. In about ten minutes she was done and she stopped to survey her work. All the chairs and couches were shredded and the stuffing in the cushions was everywhere. The paintings in the room were still covered. The rugs had slashes in them as well as the banners. The tables were missing legs and laying on the floor. And to top it off she had summoned a large green banner that read in silver letters ‘Slytherin Rules!’  _

_ Andy smiled at her handiwork and quickly made her exit. The Fat Lady left her portait much earlier so Andy made it out of the common room undetected. Andy quickly regrouped with her friends and regaled them with her adventurous story in the common room on the way back to their common room. _

_ (End Flashback) _

\------------------------------------------------------------

“Damn Mum. And I thought I was the troublemaker,” said Tonks looking at her Mum like she was a completely different person.

“Where was I when this happened?” asked Narcissa.

“You were sleeping in your dorm,” said Andy.

“Andy you left out the best part!” exclaimed Bella.

Immediately everyone turned to look at Bella. Andy just glared at her while the others looked at her intent on hearing the rest of the story. 

“Bellatrix Druella Black! So help me if-”

“It started the next morning in the Great Hall,” began Bella with a smile.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

_ (Flashback) _

_ The Great Hall the next morning was chaos. The Gryfindors were throwing a hissy fit over the condition of their common room and immediately began to accuse the Blacks. Bella walked into the hall with Rod, Rab, Andy, and Severus smirking at the frustrated Gryffindors. James and the Marauders of course were doing most of the accusing, but they were causing quite the scene.  _

_ “It was them! I know it was!” shouted James at the newcomers. _

_ “Why do you think it’s us Potter?” sneered Bella. _

_ “Because it has to be you!” _

_ Bella didn’t respond and just lunged forward at him causing him to jump backwards. Bella cackled at the fearful expression on his face and went to sit down at the table with her friends. The group of five settled into a comfortable conversation and ate their breakfasts.  _

_ “Ms. Black,” started the stern tone of Professor McGonagall, “I’m aware that you made your way into the Gryffindor common room last night. I’m sure you’re aware that the common room was vandalized last night around the time that you entered so I must take you into questioning.” _

_ Andy looked up at the professor suddenly fearful as all noise in the hall came to a halt. Bella saw her sister freeze and quickly butted into the conversation in an attempt to save her sister. _

_ “Professor there is no way Andy was in the Gryffindor common room last night as she was with us all last night,” said Bella as she gestured to all of their friends. _

_ “While that may be true I must question your sister, Ms. Black.” _

_ “Why must you question her if there is no way Andy was in the common room?” asked Bella as she jumped to her feet. _

_ McGonagall let out a sigh, “Ms. Black I must question her because I have to check everyone that was at the common room that night.” _

_ “But she wasn’t there,” argued Bella. _

_ “I understand that Ms. Black, but I still have to question her,” said McGonagall in a disbelieving tone. _

_ Bella knew that it was hopeless to keep arguing her point and shut her mouth and sat back down. _

_ “Ms. Black if you would please come with me.” _

_ Andy got to her feet and followed the Transfiguration Professor out of the Great Hall, presumably to her office.  _

_ “It looks like the guilty party was caught!” gleefully shouted James.  _

_ The rest of the Gryffindors began to cheer and shout. Little did they know, but they had sufficiently pissed off Bellatrix Black. Bella quickly charmed most of the dishes of food on the Slytherin table to dump all their contents on the celebrating Gryffindors. Shouts of anger were heard throughout the hall. Bella cackled at the scene in front of her with the rest of the Slytherins. The Gryffindors decided to seek their revenge and before long the entire hall had become a warzone. The huge food fight was finally put to a stop by Dumbledore. Bella and her friends had tried to sneak out of the hall, but before Bella made it out she was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder. _

_ “Ms. Black, I do believe that you have lost your house forty points and you will be serving two months of detention for this food fight you started. Is this clear?” asked Dumbledore without his customary twinkle in his eye. _

_ Bella swallowed, “Yes Professor.” _

_ Dumbledore removed his hand from her shoulder and Bella all but sprinted to her common room. Later that day Andy had told Bella that she had lost Slytherin seventy points and would be serving four months of detention for the stunt she pulled. The group of five friends dissolved into laughter about how ridiculous just the morning had turned out to be. _

_ (End Flashback) _

\---------------------------------------------------------------

“Again where was I when this happened?” asked Cissa confused as to how she missed a food fight in the Great Hall.

“You were probably off snogging Lucius somewhere,” responded Bella with a disgusted expression.

Narcissa didn’t respond to her older sister and just blushed a deep red.

“Mum you troublemaker! I didn’t think you would be causing trouble at school!” exclaimed Tonks.

“Well Nymphadora, you don’t know a lot of things about me,” smirked Andy.

“Mum why’d you call me that! You know I hate that name!”

“I call you that because I’m your mother.”

Tonks huffed, but didn’t respond because she didn’t have a suitable comeback for that. 

“That was you Andy!? No offense, but I always thought it was you Bellatrix,” said Ted looking at his wife in shock.

“No offense taken. It was an ingenious plan after all,” said Bella with a smile.

“Well Ted I guess you married a bad girl,” smirked Andy.

Ted spat out the water that he took a sip of. Tonks looked like she was going to vomit. Cissa and Bella however were unfazed. 

“Well on that note I do believe it’s time to bring this night to an end,” said Ted with a light blush on his cheeks.

Bella cast a quick spell and realized that it was already past midnight. 

“I agree with you Ted,” said Bella standing to help move dishes to the kitchen.

“Bella put those down! I will get them later. You are my guest,” said Andy while snatching the dishes out of Bella’s hands.

“But-”

“No buts,” firmly stated Andy.

Andy put the dishes back on the table and began to walk her sisters to the door. Andy opened the door and Bella and Cissa turned around to say their goodbyes.

“I had a lovely time getting to know you two tonight,” said Ted with a smile.

“The pleasure is mine,” said Cissa with a small smile.

“It was nice to get you know you too, Ted,” said Bella. 

Bella let out a squeak of surprise as Ted pulled her into a hug before moving to give Narcissa a hug.

“Well I guess I’ll see ya around Aunties,” said Tonks before pulling them into awkward side hugs.

“Thank you Bella for reuniting us. I really missed you two,” said Andy with a sad smile.

Narcissa was the first to make a move and pulled Andy into a bone crushing hug.

“Andy I should’ve reached out to you sooner, but I didn’t and I can only hope that in the future I can make up for all of our missed time,” regretfully mumbled Cissa into the hug.

“You already have Cissa. You’re here now and that’s all that matters to me.”

Bella smiled at her younger sisters making peace with the past. Bella wondered what the future would look like after the war would they have dinners like this or would they be more like parties. Bella didn’t care what their meetups would look like; she was excited for life after the war and the freedom to be seen with her family. 

“Bella I-,” started Andy.

“Andy, don't. You don’t need to say anything. Don’t thank me because I wanted this just as much as you,” said Bella, pulling Andy and Cissa into a hug.

“I love you Bella and Cissa,” mumbled Andy.

“I love you too Andy,” said the other two sisters in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! All of your comments help a lot with motivation to write faster :)


	31. Chapter 31

“Cissa, Draco let’s go!” said Bella when she saw them finally walk out of the Manor. 

“Calm down Bella,” said Narcissa with an arched eyebrow as she observed her sister practically jumping with excitement. 

Bella just rolled her eyes at her younger sister. Bella couldn’t help but feel underdressed as she looked at her sister and nephew. Narcissa looked well put together and was wearing one of her fashionable robes, Slytherin colors of course, with her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Draco on the other hand looked like he was about to vomit up his dinner. His robes looked nice, but he himself looked sickly. 

“Draco relax, nothing is going to happen to you. If the Order decided to let in your crazy aunt they’ll let you in too,” reassured Bella. 

Draco nodded his head and looked somewhat less likely to put his dinner to waste. 

“Right are we ready to go?” asked Bella as she held out her arms for the other two to grab on. 

Without a word Draco and Narcissa grabbed her arms and off they went.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------

With a quiet crack they arrived a short distance away from the shrieking shack. Narcissa brushed some invisible dust off her robes in a nervous gesture. They walked to the front of the house shivering because of the cold wind.

“Let’s go in. They are waiting for us,” said Bella as she walked towards the door. 

The others followed her into the dark shack nervous beyond belief. 

“Ahh I see you made it. I was starting to believe you wouldn’t be showing up,” said Dumbledore as they walked into the dimly lit room. 

“We wouldn’t have asked for a meeting if we weren’t going to show up,” said Bella sitting down in a nearby chair. 

Narcissa and Draco stood awkwardly by Bellatrix as they didn’t know if they should sit down or not. Bella looked around the room and noticed Andy standing behind Dumbledore next to McGonagall. 

“Andy? What are you doing here?” asked Bella thoroughly confused. 

“I couldn’t sit at home while it was being decided if Cissa would be allowed to join the Order.”

“Mother who’s that?” asked Draco. Draco had never met his aunt or seen any pictures of her seeing how they were all burned when Andy ran off with Ted. 

“That’s your Aunt Andromeda,” said Narcissa calmly. 

Andy waved at the young Slytherin with a kind smile on her face, “Hi Draco.”

Draco didn’t really know how to respond so he just smiled at her.

“Andy while I’m glad you are here a warning would have been nice seeing how Draco’s never met you before.”

Andy nodded and told Narcissa that next time she would tell her in advance. 

“Let’s get into this shall we?” said Dumbledore rhetorically. 

McGonagall stepped out from behind Dumbledore to begin the questioning, “Why do you want to join the Order, Mrs. Malfoy?”

“The Order has a greater chance at surviving the upcoming war and I don’t particularly wish to be tied to the Dark Lord anymore.”

“Why do you want to join the Order, Mr. Malfoy?”

“I saw what they did to my father and I don’t want that to happen to Mother or myself.”

“Why should we trust you?”

Draco opened his mouth to talk, but Narcissa held her hand up, intent on speaking first. 

“The Dark Lord has been living in my home for over a year. I’ve gathered some important information while he has taken residence in my house.”

“And you are willing to share such information?”

“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I wasn’t willing,” hissed Narcissa.

“Why isn’t your husband joining us tonight?”

“Because he is too far gone to be saved,” said Narcissa behind an emotionless mask. 

“I’m sure you are aware that your sister had to prove herself to us before we let her join. You and Draco will have to prove yourselves loyal to the Order and not to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

Narcissa and Draco nodded their heads in understanding. 

Dumbledore began to speak, “Your sister brought us something of immeasurable value to Voldemort. We would require something similar. Any information on the whereabouts of any of the safe houses would be appreciated.”

“Well I happen to know where the other two are located. The Nott and the Lestrange resistances are home to the remaining Death Eaters. The main safe house is Malfoy Manor,” said Narcissa with conviction.

No one in the room expected Draco to have any information on Voldemort so it surprised everyone when Draco cleared his voice and began to speak. 

“The Dark Lord is planning to have you murdered by the end of the year. He wanted me to carry out the plan. He said if I did everything successfully he would give me the dark mark,” timidly said Draco as he looked at the Headmaster. 

The room was dead silent until Bellatrix exploded with rage. 

“What!?! The dark mark! You aren’t even of age yet!” Bella shouted as she paced the room muttering curses and what she would do to her former master when she got the chance. 

“Bella calm down. You’re scaring Draco,” said Andy as she put her hand on Bella to stop her from pacing. 

Bella looked over and saw a fearful look on Draco’s face and immediately stopped her raging and sat back down in her chair. 

“I apologize Draco I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s alright Aunt Bella.”

Finally the Headmaster spoke. 

“Hmm it’s not surprising that Tom would want me dead, but it is good to know,” said Dumbledore as he stroked his beard, “However it is troubling that Tom is recruiting underage witches and wizards.”

The old wizard thought in silence for a couple of moments.

“Will that suffice to prove our loyalty?” asked Narcissa as she held her son close to her. 

“We shall see. First we must see if what you tell us is true. Then we will come to you with an answer.”

The three Order members began to prepare to leave. 

“Mrs. Malfoy, before I go, I do believe you this is just a formality. We should have an answer for you later this week,” said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye. 

Narcissa nodded, “Thank you, Dumbledore.”

With that the three apperated presumably back to the Headquarters, but not before Andy said bye to her two sisters. 

The other three left the shrieking shack and arrived at the Manor. They all went their separate way to their bedrooms, the whole time not one of them said a word about what had transpired, as they were too worried about a negative outcome. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a short chapter, but don't worry there will be more soon! Any feedback or comments would be great!


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I've promised here's some more to read! I hope all of you guys had amazing holidays!

The answer came two days later by owl. The group was asked to come to the Headquarters so that they could be introduced to the remainder of the members. Draco and Narcissa wouldn’t be wearing any disguises as they weren’t considered to be in as much danger if found out unlike Bellatrix. Narcissa and Draco wore similar outfits to the last meeting and Bella wore her disguise. The group of three met in the courtyard in front of the house shortly before leaving. No one spoke a word as they departed to the Order headquarters. 

They appeared in the park across the way from the house. Narcissa straightened her robes and busied herself with fixing Draco’s robes as well.

“Cissa stop your fussing and let’s get inside.”

Narcissa let out a sigh and let go of Draco’s robes as she hid her emotions behind a carefully crafted emotionless facade. Bella watched as Draco did the same, not as well as his mother, but it was good enough to fool the Order members. 

“Right, just so we cover everything. The Order members are likely to be wary of you at first. Some of them will welcome you with open arms, others are going to ignore you. When we get in there do not under any circumstances refer to me by my name, only refer to me as Thalia or Ms. Mulligan,” said Bella as she briefed the two blondes.

Cissa and Draco nodded and the trio made their way across the street. Bella knocked on the door and McGonagall answered.

“What’s your patronus?” asked the Professor.

“A black panther. Can we enter now?” asked Bella impatiently.

McGonagall stepped out of the way and they walked into the house.

“Everyone’s waiting in the main sitting room,” said McGonagall as she walked ahead to tell the others of their arrival.

Bella looked at her sister and nephew and saw right through their facades. 

“Relax, I won’t let anything happen to you two and neither will Andy,” reassured the disguised witch.

Bella saw Draco and Narcissa relax and smiled at them before stepping into the room.

“Thalia!” came the shouts of many excited Order members.

“Dumbledore we already know Thalia’s a part of the Order,” said Kingsley confused.

“It’s not me that’s new to the Order, it's them,” said Bella with a smirk as she gestured to the two blondes behind her.

Chaos immediately erupted. Shouts of rage and outrage were heard throughout the room. Andy, Ted, and Tonks all walked over to the two Malfoys to attempt to hide them from the anger. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron looked on in shock. Harry looked a bit confused, but looked accepting of the two new members. Just as Mrs. Weasley began an angry rant about the safety of her children, Dumbledore interrupted the chaos with a loud shout.

“SILENCE!” 

Almost immediately the room fell silent. Everyone turned their attention to the old wizard.

“I understand that you are wary of our new members, but I hope you can trust my judgement when I say they mean no harm and are here because they believe in the Order. They will be spies for us just like Severus is. Is this understood?” asked Dumbledore.

Murmurs of acknowledgement were heard throughout the room. 

Dumbledore walked over to Bella, Cissa, Andy, Ted, Draco, and Tonks.

“Would you two like to introduce yourselves?” kindly asked Dumbledore.

Narcissa and Draco could see that it wasn’t really a choice and nodded their heads. Narcissa was the first to go. Narcissa held her back completely straight and managed to look like the aristocrat she is despite the circumstances.

“My name is Narcissa Malfoy. I am here because this is the right side to be on. I don’t wish to start any feuds or arguments, so I hope it is understood that I am sincere about my wish to leave the Dark Lord.”

Draco was not quite as eloquent or formal as his mother when he introduced himself, “Er… my name’s Draco Malfoy. I know I was a horrible person in the past and I hope I can try and redeem myself. I want to apologize to Potter for all the horrible things I did at school. I also want to apologize to Mu-Hermione for calling you horrible names at school.” 

Draco finished talking while staring at the ground ashamed at his actions. Hermione looked at the blonde boy and decided that she wouldn’t fully forgive him until she saw that he was changed. Harry on the other hand walked up to Malfoy.

“I know we got off on the wrong foot in the beginning, but I’d like to start over if you’re okay with it?”

Draco looked up at him shocked, but nodded his head shyly. Bella looked at the scene and smiled, happy to know that Draco would have a friend in the Order.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually things calmed down and everyone went about their daily activities. Bella saw Hermione sneak upstairs and quietly snuck away from the group of people. Bella grinned to herself as she walked up the stairs and into Hermione’s room. Bella closed the door behind her and turned around to see a shape bolting towards her.

“Bella!” came the excited squeal as Bella was almost tackled to the ground.

Bella laughed gleefully as she regained her balance, holding Hermione tightly to her chest. Hermione looked up at the disguised witch and lifted herself up on her tiptoes to kiss Bella soundly on the lips. Hermione was overjoyed at seeing her love again after being apart for a week. The gentle kiss had evolved into a deeper kiss, their tongues fought for dominance and their hands roamed. Hermione had one hand firmly planted in Bella’s hair and the other cupped Bella’s bum. Bella had one hand groping Hermione’s bum and the other rested on Hermione’s breast. Both women were so consumed by the kiss that they didn’t stop for air until they felt as if they were about to pass out. 

“That was quite the kiss, Love,” said Bella, still quite out of breath as they sat on Hermione’s bed.

Hermione blushed and looked at the ground as she replied to the older witch, “Well I missed you.”

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, little lion. I missed you too. And I’m definitely not going to complain about the kiss.”

Hermione didn’t know how to respond and just snuggled into Bella’s arms. 

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive leaving you to go to Hogwarts,” said Hermione.

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive you leaving. But I know we will get through it.”

Hermione smiled at Bella and pulled her into another searing kiss. Hands roamed once more. One of Bella’s hands snuck under Hermione’s shirt and rested below her breast. Slowly Bella’s hand slid further and further up until it covered Hermione’s breast. Hermione moaned into the kiss at the feeling. Bella smirked and nibbled at Hermione’s lip causing her to moan once more. Bella had a devilish smile on her face and leaned down about to kiss Hermione’s neck when they heard a knock on the door.

“Mione, Harry and Ron are looking for you,” said Ginny through the wood.

Hermione let out a sigh, “I’ll be down in a second.”

They waited until they heard Ginny walk back down the stairs before they started to move. Bella stood up and helped Hermione to her feet. Hermione quickly began working on making her hair look presentable again. Bella waved her wand over her own disheveled appearance and within seconds looked like nothing had happened. 

“You need to teach me that spell one day,” almost pleaded Hermione.

“One day I will, but for now I’ll do it for you,” said Bella as she waved her wand over Hermione.

“Thank you,” said Hermione as she kissed Bella on the cheek.

“You’d better be off. I’m sure your friends are worried about you.”

Hermione smiled one last time at Bella before bolting down the stairs to find her friends. Bella smiled at the hasty exit and calmly walked down the stairs to collect her sister and nephew. 

“Narcissa we have to go,” quietly said Bella as she put her hand on Cissa’s elbow.

“Where have you been?” hissed Cissa.

“I’ve been catching up with a couple of people. But we really need to go,” said Bella.

Cissa nodded in acceptance and together the two of them began to search for Draco.

“Draco we need to go,” said Narcissa when she found her son.

“Of course Mother,” said Draco as he stood up from his chair. He politely said bye to Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny before walking off with his mum and his disguised aunt.

The three of them left without any interceptions and made it back to the Manor before the other Death Eaters realized they were gone.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before Hermione knew it they were heading back to Hogwarts on the train. She hadn’t seen Harry since the day prior and was very pleased to see him walking to the same compartment as her.

“Harry! Where’ve you been?” asked Hermione as she pulled Harry into a hug.

“Hi Mione. I’ve been with Dumbledore. I’ll tell you more when we are in the compartment.”

Hermione nodded and together they walked into the compartment. Ron and Ginny were already in the compartment waiting for the other two. They leapt up from their seats when they saw Harry walk in.

“Harry!” exclaimed the two redheads as they pulled Harry into a hug.

“Hey guys,” said Harry.

Everyone sat down and immediately Harry was bombarded with questions.

“Guys, I’ll answer all your questions in due time, but I should probably start at the beginning. Dumbledore picked me up from Headquarters after breakfast and he took me to find one of his colleges.”

(Start Flashback)

_ Harry and Dumbledore turned a corner, passing a telephone box and a bus stop. Harry looked sideways at Dumbledore again.  _

_ “Professor?”  _

_ “Harry?”  _

_ “Er — where exactly are we?”  _

_ “This, Harry, is the charming village of Budleigh Babberton.”  _

_ “And what are we doing here?”  _

_ “Ah yes, of course, I haven’t told you,” said Dumbledore. “Well, I have lost count of the number of times I have said this in recent years, but we are, once again, one member of staff short. We are here to persuade an old colleague of mine to come out of retirement and return to Hogwarts.”  _

_ “How can I help with that, sir?”  _

_ “Oh, I think we’ll find a use for you,” said Dumbledore vaguely. “Left here, Harry.” They proceeded up a steep, narrow street lined with houses. All the windows were dark. The odd chill that had lain over Privet Drive for two weeks persisted here too. Thinking of dementors, Harry cast a look over his shoulder and grasped his wand reassuringly in his pocket.  _

_ “Professor, why couldn’t we just Apparate directly into your old colleague’s house?” _

_ “Because it would be quite as rude as kicking down the front door,” said Dumbledore. “Courtesy dictates that we offer fellow wizards the opportunity of denying us entry. In any case, most Wizarding dwellings are magically protected from unwanted Apparators. At Hogwarts, for instance —”  _

_ “— you can’t Apparate anywhere inside the buildings or grounds,” said Harry quickly. “Hermione told me.”  _

_ “And she is quite right. We turn left again.” The church clock chimed midnight behind them. Harry wondered why Dumbledore did not consider it rude to call on his old colleague so late, but now that they had settled into a comfortable silence Harry didn’t feel that it was necessary to keep talking.  _

_ “This is the place, Harry, just here. . . .” _

_ They were nearing a small, neat stone house set in its own garden. As they reached the front gate, Dumbledore stopped dead and Harry walked into him.  _

_ “Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.” _

_ Harry followed his gaze up the carefully tended front path and felt his heart sink. The front door was hanging off its hinges. Dumbledore glanced up and down the street. It seemed quite deserted.  _

_ “Wand out and follow me, Harry,” he said quietly.  _

_ He opened the gate and walked swiftly and silently up the garden path, Harry at his heels, then pushed the front door very slowly, his wand raised and at the ready.  _

_ “Lumos.” _

_ Dumbledore’s wand tip ignited, casting its light up a narrow hallway. To the left, another door stood open. Holding his illuminated wand aloft, Dumbledore walked into the sitting room with Harry right behind him. A scene of total devastation met their eyes. A grandfather clock lay splintered at their feet, its face cracked. A piano was on its side, its keys strewn across the floor. The wreckage of a fallen chandelier glittered nearby. Cushions lay deflated, feathers oozing from slashes in their sides; fragments of glass and china lay like powder over everything. Dumbledore raised his wand even higher, so that its light was thrown upon the walls, where something darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the wallpaper. Harry’s small intake of breath made Dumbledore look around.  _

_ “Not pretty, is it?” he said heavily. “Yes, something terrible has happened here.” _

_ Dumbledore moved carefully into the middle of the room, scrutinizing the wreckage at his feet. Harry followed, gazing around, half-scared of what he might see hidden behind the wreck of the piano or the overturned sofa, but there was no sign of a body.  _

_ “Maybe there was a fight and — and they dragged him off, Professor?” Harry suggested, trying not to imagine how badly wounded a man would have to be to leave those stains spattered halfway up the walls.  _

_ “I don’t think so,” said Dumbledore quietly, peering behind an overstuffed armchair lying on its side.  _

_ “You mean he’s — ?”  _

_ “Still here somewhere? Yes.” And without warning, Dumbledore swooped, plunging the tip of his wand into the seat of the overstuffed armchair, which yelled, “Ouch!” _

_ “Good evening, Horace,” said Dumbledore, straightening up again. _

_ Harry’s jaw dropped. Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched a bald, old man who was massaging his lower belly and squinting up at Dumbledore with an aggrieved and watery eye.  _

_ “There was no need to stick the wand in that hard,” he said gruffly, clambering to his feet. “It hurt.”  _

_ The wandlight sparkled on his shiny pate, his prominent eyes, his enormous, silver, walrus like mustache, and the highly polished buttons on the maroon velvet jacket he was wearing over a pair of lilac silk pajamas. The top of his head barely reached Dumbledore’s chin.  _

_ “What gave it away?” he grunted as he staggered to his feet, still rubbing his lower belly. He seemed remarkably unabashed for a man who had just been discovered pretending to be an armchair.  _

_ “My dear Horace,” said Dumbledore, looking amused, “if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house.”  _

_ The wizard clapped a pudgy hand to his vast forehead. “The Dark Mark,” he muttered. “Knew there was something . . . ah well. Wouldn’t have had time anyway, I’d only just put the finishing touches to my upholstery when you entered the room.” He heaved a great sigh that made the ends of his mustache flutter.  _

_ “Would you like my assistance clearing up?” asked Dumbledore politely.  _

_ “Please,” said the other.  _

_ They stood back to back, the tall thin wizard and the short round one, and waved their wands in one identical sweeping motion. The furniture flew back to its original places; ornaments reformed in midair, feathers zoomed into their cushions; torn books repaired themselves as they landed upon their shelves; oil lanterns soared onto side tables and reignited; a vast collection of splintered silver picture frames flew glittering across the room and alighted, whole and untarnished, upon a desk; rips, cracks, and holes healed everywhere, and the walls wiped themselves clean.  _

_ It was then that his gaze fell upon Harry. “Oho,” he said, his large round eyes flying to Harry’s forehead and the lightning-shaped scar it bore. “Oho!”  _

_ “This,” said Dumbledore, moving forward to make the introduction, “is Harry Potter. Harry, this is an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn.” _

_ Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression shrewd. “So that’s how you thought you’d persuade me, is it? Well, the answer’s no, Albus.”  _

_ He pushed past Harry, his face turned resolutely away with the air of a man trying to resist temptation.  _

_ “I suppose we can have a drink, at least?” asked Dumbledore. “For old time’s sake?” Slughorn hesitated.  _

_ “All right then, one drink,” he said ungraciously. The one drink turned into many more and before Slughorn knew it he was agreeing to become the potions professor at Hogwarts. _

(End Flashback)

“After that Dumbledore brought me here and I hopped on the train,” finished Harry.

“Bloody hell, so you’ve been out with Dumbledore all night?” asked Ron.

“Yeah,” said Harry with a yawn, just now realising how tired he was. 

“Harry maybe you should take a nap,” suggested Ginny.

Harry just nodded at the group already half asleep. Less than a minute later they heard quiet snores coming from the boy. The remaining three joked and laughed for the rest of the train ride to the school. They took part in the festivities and when they made it back to the common room, called it a night. Hermione fell asleep with a peaceful expression on her face and dreamt dreams about good times with her friends and family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that I'm going to go through year 6 pretty fast because it doesn't really effect the plot that much. Anyways let me know what you think! I love to hear from you guys! Also if you guys have any ideas or anything you want to see in the upcoming chapters please tell me :)


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